On Thursday, 23rd of July 2020, Flipkart has announced the acquisition of Walmart India to bolster its wholesale operations.
With this acquisition, Flipkart has planned to launch a new digital marketplace by the end of August 2020. The new concept has been named as Flipkart Wholesale. It will serve independent medium-sized, small businesses and retailers.
As we all know that till date small grocery stores called “Kiranas” or “Kirana & General Stores” in India plays a vital role in providing goods to the general public. And they are independent small business retailers that sell almost all variety of goods for day-to-day needs of the general public.
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And these small businesses would acquire their items from wholesalers or dealers. And now, Flipkart Wholesale has targetted the supply chain of these retailers. In a statement, Flipkart said.
Kiranas and MSMEs are central to India’s retail ecosystem and Flipkart Wholesale will focus on meeting their needs by providing small businesses a wide selection at significant value, powered by technology to make their lives easier,
Walmart CEO and president Judith McKenna said
For over a decade, we’ve been committed to India’s prosperity by serving kiranas and MSMEs, supporting smallholder farmers, and building global sourcing and technology hubs throughout the country,
Today marks the next big step as Walmart India’s pioneering cash-and-carry legacy meets Flipkart’s culture of innovation in the launch of Flipkart Wholesale.
Flipkart Wholesale is set to launch in August with initial providing of groceries and fashion products. It will be headed by Flipkart vice president Adarsh Menon and Walmart India CEO Sameer Aggarwal. Sameer will be a part of this concept until the takeover period only. After completion of the acquisition, he will mover to another role inside the Walmart.
Acquisition terms and conditions:
Flipkart was acquired by Walmart for $16 billion (that was a stake of 77%) in 2018. Walmart, earlier this month, induced a $1.2 billion equity share in Flipkart to increase its stake to 82%.
Currently, Best Price has over 1.5 million employees. Flipkart’s supply chain will be strengthened due to the addition of 28 Best Price member-only stores and its 5,000 employees.
Flipkart wholesale business has already signed up with some of the top Indian brands, local manufacturers and sellers across the country.
What other big e-commerce players in India are doing
Amazon has launched Smart Stores. It aims in providing software that allows Kirana owners and customers to view products more easily. Smart Stores allows customers to scan QR codes using Amazon app.
Reliance Jio unveiled JioMart. It is a grocery platform offers online groceries and supplies to consumers. But unlike Amazon which uses its warehousing for the concept, Jio Mart connects offline Kirana stores to online customers. JioMart will be operational from April 2021. Facebook has announced that it injected $5.7 billion into Reliance company for JioMart.