Flipkart says it sold half a million products in the first hour of Big Billion Days

Units sold in the first 6 hours of sale this year surpassed the total units sold in a day during first day of Big Billion Days in 2015

India’s largest e-commerce marketplace Flipkart claims it sold over 500,000 products within one hour of the opening of its annual Big Billion Days festive sale that kicked off at midnight.

The company says that the number of users that came onto its website in the first five minutes of the sale going live was ten times higher than on an average day. Amazon, which kicked off its sale a day ahead of its Indian rival, said it had sold 100,000 products in the first 30 minutes of its sale.

“The number of units sold in the first 6 hours of sale surpassed the total units sold in a day during the first day of The Big Billion Days in 2015. It’s a matter of immense delight to see this response from our consumers,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Head of Categories at Flipkart, in a statement.

Myntra, which is participating in its second Big Billion Days sale after being acquired by Flipkart in 2014, says it clocked three times the revenue in the first one hour of the sale compared to last year. Apart from fashion, electronics and home appliances were fast moving as usual, with Flipkart claiming to have sold more Apple Watch units in the first 10 minutes of its sale than sold all over India in a month.

India’s e-commerce heavyweights Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon are slugging it out in a week-long online festive sale bonanza. Amazon, which strategically started its sale a day earlier than its rivals, pushed customers to sign up for Prime, helping it lock them in with the lure of fast deliveries and quick access to deals.