Bengaluru, Sep 16 (IANS): Flipkart on Friday announced ninth edition of its flagship 'The Big Billion Days' (TBBD) festive sales that will run from September 23 till September 30, with an early access for the Plus customers.

Millions of sellers, Kirana delivery partners and MSMEs have been onboarded to provide access to customers with high-quality, differentiated selection across price points, the e-commerce platform said in a statement.

"As India's homegrown e-commerce marketplace, we pride ourselves in being close to customers and intimately understanding their needs and expectations. Our growing ecosystem of sellers, MSMEs, Kirana stores, and other partners will witness us seamlessly fulfilling the customers' evolving requirements across the various nooks and corners of the country," said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group.

Customers will have an opportunity to pre-book products across categories by Rs 1 as a token advance.

They will get access to 130 'Special Edition' collectibles from more than 90 brands across categories bringing more than 10,000 new products.

This year, Flipkart has onboarded hundreds of last-mile delivery hubs across the country and its largest fulfillment center in Haringhata, West Bengal which alone will process one million shipments a day.

The company has also rolled out an option of open-box deliveries for high-value items such as mobiles and electronics.

The customers will have affordable shopping experience via discounts on bank cards, UPI and easy EMIs.

As India enters the festive season, online sales during the festive month are expected to reach $11.8 billion, a 28 per cent increase from last year.

In the first festive week, the sales are estimated to reach $5.9 billion, projecting a 28 per cent increase from $4.8 billion last year, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants.