Nearly over two months since the Walmart-Flipkart $16 billion deal was announced and the Amercian retail major is hopeful of getting ‘timely approvals’ from the concerned regulatory authorities.
It is currently awaiting the Competition Commission of India’s approval for the deal. In May, Walmart had announced its plans to acquire 77 per cent stake in Flipkart.
Krish Iyer, President & CEO, Walmart India, said: “We are working with the authorities and we expect timely approvals.”
He added: “Flipkart is an independent business, where we have invested. It would continue to be run as a separate business by the existing team. Cash-and-Carry would be separate business, which is 100 per cent owned by Walmart and it would continue to be run by the existing team.”
Walmart India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Walmart Inc, has plans to double the number of its cash-and-carry stores in the next three years. At the same time, the company is also exploring a strategy to expand its presence by setting up fulfilment centres which will help strengthen its B2B e-commerce channel.
On Monday, the company opened its second B2B fulfilment centre in India in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh). Talking to mediapersons Iyer said: “We have 22 stores in the pipeline which we hope to open in the next three years and double the number of our cash-and-carry stores in the country”.
The company expects to open at least two stores this year, about eight stores next year and another 10 by 2020.
The company has long-term plans of operating 70 cash-and-carry stores in the next five to seven years in the country. It currently operates 21 Best Price Modern Wholesale stores in India.
Fulfilment centre
Walmart India had opened its first fulfilment centre in Mumbai last year. After Lucknow, it is set to launch another fulfilment centre in Hyderabad.
Replying to a query on the company’s future strategy for expanding fulfilment centres, Iyer said: “We are running these two fulfilment centres as pilots. We hope to gain learnings from these pilots and further fine-tune the format of our fulfilment centres. As we focus on an omni-channel strategy, there is a huge potential to grow through our fulfilment centres.”
With stores taking as much as two-three years to open, fulfilment centres could help the company in quicker expansion especially in regions where it has not yet opened its stores.
( The writer was in Lucknow at the invitation of Walmart India)