Retail in Asia

Walmart plans tie-ups with online retailers in India

American retail major Walmart is learnt to be exploring ways to tie up with leading e-commerce companies in India, including Flipkart, Snapdeal, ShopClues, Grofers and Bigbasket, to tap the growing online retail opportunity eight years after it entered the country. While the USD486-billion top retail chain of the world had earlier toyed with the idea of entering the online space to sell its products to Indian consumers, it is now actively considering the option.

This comes at a time when the USD90-billion American e-commerce giant, Amazon is giving competition to Indian start-ups such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and others. In a recent interview, Amazon India head Amit Agarwal had told Business Standard the group had an open cheque book and investment would never be a hurdle for India operations. Walmart and Amazon compete with each other globally, especially in the US, in the online space.

Asked about the group’s plans on tie-ups with e-commerce companies, Rajneesh Kumar, vice-president and head, corporate affairs, Walmart India, said, "Several businesses in the e-commerce space have approached us to become our members and we are processing those requests."