This could be one of the best BBD sales in recent years, says Flipkart

The festive spirit is at its peak and so are customers’ wishlists. Early sign suggests that this could be one of the best sales in recent years, says Pratik Shetty, VP Growth and Marketing at Flipkart, in a conversation with Business Today.

Adding to the festive fervour is the GST reform announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, set to take effect from September 22 — the very day festive sales kick off. “There’s a big positive impact from GST,” notes Shetty, pointing out that whenever such benefits are passed on to consumers, demand inevitably rises. “That’s one big flip for us,” he adds.

Talking on the categories front, he says that fashion, beauty, and wearables are already seeing 3x unit growth since July, even before GST and large appliances are getting high searches and visits but delayed purchases — likely to pick up post the sales start while mobiles are also seeing strong in searches and transactions, expected to surge during Big Billion Days (BBD).

While categories like fashion and beauty continue to dominate festive sales, as highlighted in the Unicommerce report, segments such as FMCG, health, and travel are witnessing rapid growth. Meanwhile, data from Datum shows that grocery, appliances, and personal care are gaining ground. Interestingly, even though mobiles and lifestyle are projected to see a slight dip in GMV share, they will still command more than 50% of festive sales in 2025.

Further talking on the demand and sales forecast for grocery, Shetty says that last year, Flipkart’s grocery channel was about hyper-value distribution across India. That’s still growing. This year, Flipkart Minutes, its quick commerce vertical which was launched last year is sizable and adds another layer of growth in FMCG.

“Overall, we expect 1.5x to 2x growth compared to last year, because we now operate through two channels — our traditional grocery supply chain and Minutes,” he added.

The question, however, is how the new GST reform will benefit sellers, given that procurement is done well in advance. Shetty did not comment directly on this, but noted that Flipkart continues to educate its sellers on GST changes. Broadly, the understanding is that the benefit could be passed on through Input Tax Credit on the revised lower rates, effectively reducing the overall cost of goods even for inventory purchased at older rates.

Backed by demand across categories, a dual-channel grocery push, and favourable policy tailwinds, Flipkart is gearing up for the Big Billion Days. The question now is whether this festive season will set new records — and deliver the ‘big flip’ the company is betting on.