Big Billion Day: Flipkart fizzles out

Mirroring the buzz generated by the ‘Black Friday sale’ in the US, Flipkart on Monday started its 'Big Billion Day' sale boasting steep discounts with sale prices starting at just one rupee. The same day its e-commerce competitor Snapdeal ran an ad mocking it with the tagline “For others it’s a big day. For us, today’s no different.”  
 

Flipkart has been promoting the big sale since Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezoz visited India. The site has created  a huge buzz on its Steal Deals section, while other sections have catchy names like 'Limited Time' and 'Limited Stock', and 'Save More'.

 

The most talked about deal till now has been the Nokia Lumia 525 sale. The product had a 90% discount and was gone within minutes. While many users complained the sale was a a hoax, some claimed to have bagged the coveted deal:
 

Bagged a lumia 525 at @Flipkart 's #BigBillionDay. . My uncle is in for sweet surprise. ^_^ pic.twitter.com/lDS9xCAVaJ

— Ms. Starry Eyed (@Priyaa_G) October 6, 2014

Many users  complained about the elusiveness of most products and the claim the site made of products being 'out of stock' right after they had paid for the item. Issues such as these, not to mention sluggish servers, also led many users to shop at Snapdeal instead.

A website titled ‘missionsharingknowledge.com’ claimed that the price of most items on ‘sale’ today were actually increased over the past few days and then shown to be on discount while remaining even more expensive than its original selling price.

“One of the best selling perfumes, Calvin Klein Be Eau de Toilette, had its price hovering around Rs.1650 for the last 3 months, suddenly it has shot up by around Rs.300 and is now available at Rs.1920,” the website pointed out, with a price graph as evidence.

Many users, mostly frustrated by the offers and their inability to buy the items they wanted, took to micro-blogging website Twitter to rant, while a small minority had positive reviews. With #BigBillionDay and #CheckSnapDealToday trending on top, the sale was certainly the most discussed topic today:

Flipkart should have just kept this Big Billion Sale on April Fools day instead.

— E-tard (@14_yr_old_Etard) October 6, 2014

Sold out , out of stock , error 505 , vanishing cart , fluctuating prices , #bigbillionday ?? Really #flopkart

— Darshan Majithia (@darshanmajithia) October 6, 2014

Twinkle twinkle Flipkart... Can't find the products in my cart ... Fed up seeing OUT OF STOCK ... Is this all some MOCK ? #BigBillionDay

— Babu Bhaiya (@Shahrcasm) October 6, 2014

#BigBillionDay: Many items listed by @Flipkart in print ads this morning not available on the website. Gets work done by luring buyers in.

— Rajrishi Singhal (@RajrishiSinghal) October 6, 2014

This #BigBillionDay is just plain nonsense. Clearing old stock!Things disappear from your cart just when you click on Place order @Flipkart

— Youth of the Nation (@AnkitKhandelwal) October 6, 2014

Just spent half my salary buying books on #Flipkart then didn't want #Amazon to feel bad so spent the other half on it! #BigBillionDay

— Rashi Kakkar (@rashi_kakkar) October 6, 2014

No refund & No cancellation. That sums up the #BigBillionDay :)

— Yokesh (@ImYokEsH) October 6, 2014