Flipkart acquires Walmart India, to launch Flipkart Wholesale for B2B segment in August

Flipkart Wholesale may be a new digital marketplace that specialize in addressing the business-to-business (B2B) segment in India.

Flipkart on Thursday announced the acquisition of Walmart India for an undisclosed amount, and said it'll launch ‘Flipkart Wholesale’ next month, because the homegrown e-commerce major looks to tap into the USD 650 billion B2B retail market in India.

Walmart India runs 28 Best Price wholesale stores within the country.

The announcement comes every week after Flipkart had said it had raised USD 1.2 billion in funding from a Walmart-led investor group. In 2018, Walmart Inc had invested USD 16 billion for acquiring 77 per cent stake within the group.


Flipkart Wholesale may be a new digital marketplace that specialize in addressing the business-to-business (B2B) segment in India.

“This marketplace goes to effectively link sellers and makers on one end and kiranas and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on the opposite end,” Flipkart Senior vice chairman and Head – Flipkart Wholesale Adarsh Menon told PTI.

The acquisition will help strengthen the capabilities to deal with the wants of kirana and MSMEs, he said.

The move will further intensify competition with Flipkart’s rival Amazon that features a similar offering for the B2B segment.

“The B2B marketplace for finished goods is estimated to be worth USD 650 billion. to start out with, we'll be that specialize in USD 140 billion of that USD 650 billion, which is essentially the categories of fashion, grocery, general merchandise, large and little electronics,” Menon said.

Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, had entered India through a partnership with Bharti Enterprises for a cash-and-carry business that permits small businesses, kirana stores and hotels to shop for in bulk.

In 2013, the 2 companies went separate ways and Walmart continued to scale the cash-and-carry business in India on its own.

Flipkart Wholesale will launch its operations in August, and can be headed by Menon.

Sameer Aggarwal, Chief military officer at Walmart India, will remain with the corporate to make sure a smooth transition, after which he will move to a different role within Walmart.

Employees of Walmart India business will join the Flipkart Group and therefore the headquarters teams will integrate over subsequent year, the businesses said during a statement.

Walmart India was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walmart Inc, and is estimated to possess about 3,500 employees.

The Best Price cash-and-carry business will still serve its over 1.5 million members via its omnichannel network of 28 stores in nine states and e-commerce operations. Walmart India features a new cash-and-carry store arising in Tirupati within the next few months.

“A thing we saw through COVID-19 (outbreak) was kiranas are shopping in additional omnichannel ways than before. In our greatest Price business, we had a 4X increase in e-commerce within our business, which is primarily brick and mortar. What that tells us is that kiranas are very hospitable shopping both online and offline,” Walmart India CEO Sameer Aggarwal said.

He added that kiranas will remain big, and organised B2B will account for a much bigger a part of retail.

“…Within that, online will get a disproportionate share of growth. The capabilities are complimentary. This move recognises the critical role that kiranas and MSMEs play towards India’s economic prosperity and growth,” he said.

These businesses will have one-stop access to an in depth selection of products with attractive schemes and incentives, supplemented with data-driven recommendations for stock selection, delivered through a quick and reliable network to drive greater efficiencies and better margins, Menon said.

Kiranas and MSMEs also will enjoy access to easy credit options and opportunities for brand spanking new income generation through various Flipkart initiatives, creating new ways to catalyse growth, he added.

At an equivalent time, partners will enjoy broader reach across the country, micro-market insights to enable effective inventory planning and new development , and cost-effective distribution.

Meanwhile, Walmart Inc continues to work a separate technology unit within the country under Walmart Labs India.