Flipkart Wholesale: Flipkart acquires Walmart India
Newsletter Week 30: (Jul 19- Jul 25)
Walmart India, which operates the Best Price cash-and-carry business is acquired by Flipkart to strengthen its capabilities and B2B service offering. As Flipkart Group along acquires 100% interest in Walmart India, Walmart India’s employees will join the Flipkart Group, home office teams will be integrated over the period of a year.
The launch of Flipkart Wholesale, a new digital marketplace has also been announced. It will help transform the Kiranas retail ecosystem in India. the synergies between the two groups will be leveraged by the firm, by focusing on transforming the wholesale experience for kiranas and MSMEs. The Best Price brand will be continuing to serve its over 1.5 million members via its omnichannel network of 28 stores and e-commerce operations & 2 fulfillment centers in India.
According to a Flipkart employee, a separate app will be launched focusing on Kirana customers in August to be headed by Menon. The firm will initially pilot services for the grocery and fashion categories.
Flipkart has been testing the B2B model for the past 6–8 months with a pilot in the Delhi NCR region. The acquisition of the Walmart India business will strengthen Flipkart’s positioning in B2B & to help Flipkart to plug into the grocery ecosystem holistically. On the new front, Flipkart would compete with Metro, Reliance Market including Udaan and Amazon, among others.
RIL Jiomart has already crossed 2.5 lakh orders a day and is expected to pass the largest e-grocer BigBasket soon in terms of volume. Flipkart is also in urgency to woo small retailers who have been adopting Jio Mart’s platform at a quick pace.
