Flipkart on Thursday announced the acquisition of 100 per cent interest in Walmart India Private Limited, which operates the Best Price cash-and-carry business. This acquisition would strengthen the wholesale capabilities of Indian homegrown e-commerce group.
Besides, the Flipkart group has officially launched Flipkart Wholesale, a digital marketplace that would serve local kirana stores and medium and small-scale businesses in India. The group would leverage its cutting-edge and locally developed technology to help transform the kirana retail ecosystem in India. The platform will become operational in August 2020 and will initially be piloting services for the grocery and fashion categories.
With Flipkart Wholesale, the company would provide MSMEs with a wide selection of products at significant value, powered by technology. It would serve in categories including grocery, general merchandise and fashion. MSMEs and kirana store would have one-stop access to an extensive selection of products with attractive schemes and incentives, supplemented with data-driven recommendations for stock selection, delivered through a fast and reliable network driving greater efficiencies and better margins.
The group would also offer credit options for kirana and MSMEs to purchase products. It would also generate opportunities for new income generation through various Flipkart initiatives. It will utilise the Group’s vast supply chain infrastructure to reach kiranas and MSMEs quickly across the country.
“Top Indian brands, local manufacturers and sellers have partnered with Flipkart Wholesale to ensure the availability of an exhaustive range of products and merchandise for kiranas and MSMEs. At the same time, partners will benefit from a broader reach across the country, micro-market insights to enable effective inventory planning and new product development, and cost-effective distribution,” said a press release by Flipkart.
With the acquisition of Walmart India business by Flipkart, its employees will join the Flipkart Group, and the home office teams will integrate over the next year. While the Best Price brand will continue to serve its over 1.5 million members via its omnichannel network of 28 stores and e-commerce operations.