For the first time ever, Flipkart has let YOU set their offer prices during The Big Billion Days

We Indians love to bargain. Something inside of us is deeply proud and happy when we can successfully convince a shopkeeper to give us a price lower than the market price. With online shopping becoming quicker and easier, the idea and sight of bargaining is fading away gradually. But, what if we tell you that you can now bargain while you shop online? Exciting, right? It sure is.

Flipkart, Google, and Dentsu Webchutney came together to create the most in-depth voice experience on Google Assistant yet. All this for Flipkart's 'The Big Billion Days'. With their attempt to bring back the lost art of bargaining, the voice based campaign was devised to allow the customers to haggle and negotiate to get the best deals possible on feature products for all of India.

From October 5th to October 9th, Indian customers put their bargaining skills to good use to convince the witty Google Assistant to give them the lowest price on any product of the day. All the customer had to do was to open the Google Assistant App on their phone and say, “Talk to Flipkart”. If the customer managed to set the lowest price on any product then that became its retail price for India during Flipkart's 'The Big Billion Days' from October 10th to October 14th, and the negotiator would be felicitated with the title - 'The Big Billion Days ka Boss'.

Commenting on the activity, P.G. Aditya, Executive Creative Director of Dentsu Webchutney, said, “We wanted nothing in this experience to be born out of imagination. Our team researched popular markets across India to understand every possible way in which the bargaining process works. We recorded hours of footage, and things you would actually hear from a shopkeeper were simulated in the experience. So, you can talk to Assistant the way you’d speak with a storekeeper. The Big Billion Days ka Boss is the boldest step thus far by a brand, investing in the power of voice experiences, to engage with the Indian masses.”

Gene Brutty, Creative Director, Google ZOO, Tokyo said: “Creating an experience that immerses people into a haggling scenario requires a lot of scripting, testing and refining. And to deliver a project that pushes the expectations of a platform like Assistant requires close collaboration with our agency and brand partners- Flipkart, Dentsu Webchutney and Codroit. To develop a new and exciting voice experience around The Big Billion Days shows how brands can go beyond ‘functional chatbots’. The system also supports voice and text based conversational interfaces making it a more visual and fluid experience.”

People were both excited and amused by the idea. Those who have tried bargaining with the assistant compared it to their 'kirana store owner' describing it to be 'lifelike'. Some even came out to say that the assistant was rather funny and witty, and gave better discounts if they were nice to it.

“It’s no secret that Indians love bargaining. I personally have used every trick in the book with shopkeepers everywhere to get a lower price. Which is why I’m so excited, because this is the first time that you can bargain with Flipkart through Google Assistant, to set prices on The Big Billion Days.”, comments a user who tried the online bargaining experience.

“For us at Flipkart, The Big Billion Days is not just a sale. It is a brand in itself. It is the biggest retail phenomenon that this country has ever seen. Tech-based innovation is one of the key pillars for us, where we go beyond just advertising to integrate content that people consume. As our intent is to set the benchmark for the marketing fraternity with respect to how campaigns are designed, planned and executed, and to bring alive ideas that are Disruptive, Unique and Scalable. This is exactly what our partnership with ZOO is all about which we hope will create massive engagement and buzz for the event.” said Kunal Dubey Director - Brand Marketing, Head - Media planning & Buying, Flipkart.

With the brilliant idea of inculcating bargaining in all its essence in the online shopping arena, the campaign has already built huge excitement amongst its customers. Not only did the idea stand out but the experience was also being lauded as the most in-depth and lifelike by those who gave it a try. All in all, the campaign had been conceptualized and executed masterfully.