The global retail giant, Walmart, is staking its claim in India’s thriving market with its Flipkart marketplace and PhonePe digital payments venture. Recent reports indicate a bullish outlook, suggesting these two businesses could escalate into $100 billion entities in the foreseeable future, as announced by Walmart’s Chief Financial Officer, John David Rainey.
In his statement at an investor conference, Rainey asserted Flipkart and PhonePe’s vital role in Walmart’s ambitious strategy to double its gross merchandise volume (GMV) in overseas markets. The goal: a staggering $200 billion within five years. Walmart remains tight-lipped about the individual sales performance of these two entities. However, recent executive conversations hint at their instrumental role in the company’s impressive growth.
India, with its 1.4 billion population, provides a significant opportunity for companies like Walmart. The retail giant’s international chief has frequently emphasized the potential this massive demographic presents. These optimistic sentiments align with Flipkart’s recent double-digit sales growth in the quarter ending April 30. The surge is largely attributed to the acquisition of new customers from various cities and a 50% increase in advertising sales.
As of 2022, Flipkart was valued at over $40 billion, placing it among India’s elite startup echelons. The growth of PhonePe has also been remarkable, as it recently achieved an annualized payment value of $1 trillion. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a widely used real-time payment system in India, largely facilitated this. PhonePe’s dominance in the payment market, a robust 46% share as per the National Payments Corporation of India, speaks volumes about its performance. As of December, PhonePe boasted a user base of 400 million registered customers.
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Walmart bolstered its position as India’s most valuable payments startup with a capital injection of $200 million into PhonePe in March, raising the business’s valuation to $12 billion.
Rainey’s vision doesn’t appear farfetched given these trends. As he confidently stated, “It is not far-fetched to envision both these businesses becoming $100 billion enterprises in the future.” As Walmart continues its investment journey in India, one thing is certain: the retailer’s commitment to harnessing the potential of India’s burgeoning digital market will significantly reshape the e-commerce and digital payment landscape.
This article is based on news reported by the BusinessToday website.
