Big Billion Days
Flipkart’s biggest annual sale in India
Every autumn, millions of shoppers across India wait for the same date with their phones in hand. It’s Big Billion Days, Flipkart’s flagship sale and, for many, the unofficial start of the Diwali shopping season.
What is Big Billion Days?
Big Billion Days (often shortened to TBBD or BBD) is the biggest annual sale on Flipkart, India’s largest online marketplace. For several days, the platform offers deep discounts on phones, electronics, fashion, home goods and almost every other category.
It works much like Black Friday in the West or Singles’ Day in China. It’s a calendar event that packs a huge share of the year’s online sales into just a few days.
Flipkart was founded in 2007 in Bengaluru by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. Since 2018 its majority shareholder has been Walmart, which bought 77% of the company for around $16 billion.
Plan your own big sale by email
Tease the date, open early access for your subscribers and send reminders by email and SMS. With Mailrelay you can send up to 80,000 emails a month for free.
Create a free accountBig Billion Days 2026 dates
The 2026 edition starts on 9 October. Flipkart Plus and Flipkart Black members, along with holders of some partner credit cards, get early access from midnight on 8 October.
Flipkart doesn’t usually announce the closing date far in advance. In recent years the event has lasted about a week. Indian media also report a 10% instant discount on Axis Bank and ICICI Bank cards, plus No-Cost EMI options.
A short history
The first edition took place on 6 October 2014 and lasted a single day: The Big Billion Day. According to published figures, Flipkart sold around $100 million worth of goods in just ten hours.
But that success came with problems. The site crashed several times, many products sold out within minutes and social media filled up with complaints. The founders even sent customers an apology email.
Since then, the event has grown in length and scale. In 2023 Flipkart reported 1.4 billion visits during the sale. In 2024 it passed 330 million visits during early access and day one alone.
How it works
The format combines several tactics that any online store will recognise.
The first is early access. Paying members and partner card holders shop before everyone else. It rewards loyalty and spreads out the first-day traffic.
The second is bank partnerships, which add extra discounts and instalment plans. In a price-sensitive market, that makes all the difference on expensive items like a phone or a TV.
And the third is heavy pre-launch communication. Weeks ahead, Flipkart reveals deals, activates wishlists and fills its app, social channels, SMS, email and push notifications with reminders.
Its main rival is Amazon’s Great Indian Festival, held in the same weeks. The competition between the two makes October the key month for Indian ecommerce.
What your email marketing can learn from Big Billion Days
You don’t need to sell in India or be as big as Flipkart to use these ideas. Any store planning a sale campaign can borrow the structure. Here’s the email sequence we suggest:
- Two weeks before, the teaser: announce the date and ask contacts to sign up so they don’t miss out. A simple signup form on your site helps you grow your list.
- Three days before, early access: give your most loyal customers a few hours’ head start. Segment by recent purchases or opens.
- The day before, the countdown: a short reminder with a clear subject line and the exact start time.
- Launch day: email and SMS first thing in the morning with your best deals.
- During the sale: daily updates and abandoned cart reminders.
- Afterwards: a thank-you email and a recommendation based on what each customer bought.
Because volume spikes within hours, the technical side matters too. If your list is large, especially if you haven’t sent to it in a while, warm up your IP ahead of time (IP warming) and send in batches. That way you avoid blocks and protect your deliverability. It makes alot of difference on the day.
And the lesson from 2014? Get your website ready for the traffic peak. A great email won’t help much if the landing page goes down.
How Mailrelay helps
With Mailrelay you can build this whole sequence from a single dashboard. You create VIP customer groups, schedule sends in advance and combine email and SMS in the same campaign. Our real-time reports show opens and clicks, so you can adjust the next message as you go.
The free plan includes up to 80,000 emails a month and 20,000 contacts, and our support team helps you in English, Spanish and other languages, whatever plan you’re on.
Your next big sale starts with your list
Segment your best customers, schedule the countdown and track every send in real time. Get started with Mailrelay for free.
Try Mailrelay for freeBig Billion Days FAQ
When is Big Billion Days 2026? It starts on 9 October 2026, with early access from 8 October for Flipkart Plus and Black members and holders of some partner cards.
What does TBBD stand for? It stands for The Big Billion Days, the official name of the event.
Can I shop from outside India? No. Flipkart only sells and delivers within India.
How is it similar to Black Friday? Both pack big discounts into a few days and mark the start of the peak shopping season. In India it also coincides with Navratri and Diwali.
In short
Big Billion Days is much more than a week of discounts. It shows how to build anticipation, reward loyal customers and coordinate several channels at once. And you can apply all of that to your next campaign, wherever you sell.