Flight bookings coming from the Cleartrip tab in the Flipkart app fell 18% in the two weeks after Big Billion Days. What happened?

Introduction

Flipkart's Big Billion Days (BBD) is the biggest sale event of the year for Flipkart and, increasingly, for Cleartrip. During BBD, the Cleartrip travel tab inside the Flipkart app gets prime placement, bank offers and SuperCoin promotions, and flight bookings from Flipkart users spike. In this scenario, flight bookings that come through the Flipkart app fell 18% in the two weeks after BBD, compared with the two weeks before it.

Some fall after a sale is expected. The job is to separate the normal post-sale dip from a real problem, find the cause, and decide what to do. I'll clarify the metric, rule out external factors, break down the funnel, form and test hypotheses, and close with a resolution plan.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• What is the comparison baseline: the two weeks before BBD, or the same period last year?

• Why it matters: Pre-BBD weeks are often depressed because users wait for the sale.
• Hypothetical answer: The two weeks before BBD. Year-on-year comparisons for the same post-BBD window show a 9% drop.
• Impact on approach: Even against last year there's a real decline, so this is not only a sale hangover.

• Is the drop only in Flipkart-sourced bookings, or also in the Cleartrip app and website?

• Why it matters: A Cleartrip-wide drop points to inventory, pricing or the market. A Flipkart-only drop points to the channel.
• Hypothetical answer: Cleartrip's own app is roughly flat year-on-year. The drop is concentrated in the Flipkart channel.
• Impact on approach: Focus on the Flipkart entry point and Flipkart-specific offers.

• Bookings or searches?

• Why it matters: Fewer searches means a traffic problem; fewer bookings per search means a conversion problem.
• Hypothetical answer: We have both and can check.
• Impact on approach: We'll split the metric into traffic and conversion.

• Any product, offer or layout changes after BBD?

• Why it matters: Flipkart typically resets its homepage and offers after a sale.
• Hypothetical answer: Yes. The sale homepage was replaced with the regular layout, and BBD bank offers ended.
• Impact on approach: Both are early suspects.