Walmart CEO visits Flipkart to celebrate 1st partnership anniversary

Walmart International President and CEO Judith McKenna visited Bengaluru-headquartered Flipkart to commemorate the first anniversary of the partnership between the two companies, the e-commerce company said Friday.

McKenna who is on a four-day internal business (April 30 to May 3) visit to Flipkart, interacted with the company's top management and employees, Flipkart said in a release.

Richard Mayfield, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Walmart International and Leigh Hopkins, Walmart's International Strategy Head were also a part of the interaction.

The company said Judith praised the "creativity and passion" of the team and commended the Flipkart leadership for its commitment to bringing e-commerce to more Indian consumers to make their lives better.

She also met with the top leadership and employees of Flipkart Group companies- Myntra & Jabong & Phonepe. Walmart India CEO Krish Iyer met Mckenna to update her on how the cash-and-carry business is changing the lives of kiranas (general stores) in India, the statement said.

During the visit, Walmart International's Judith McKenna had expressed confidence in team Myntra as well. Judith along with Kalyan and Amar Nagaram, Head Myntra and Jabong, announced the launch of Myntra's first of its kind service kiosk that offers shoppers a host of value added services such as flexible pickup and drop, instant returns, trial room and free alteration of products.

Judith also met with Flipkart employees at its head office and with PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam and his team at the PhonePe office. McKenna visited a Flipkart fulfilment centre to understand the supply-chain efficiency which Flipkart is bringing to the country, and also met with kiranas (general stores)that are a part of the Myntra's unique MENSA (Myntra Extended Network for Service Augmentation) network.

Judith said she was "delighted" to see Flipkart excelling by leveraging its homegrown innovations, cutting-edge technology and deep customer centricity and making the most of synergies with Walmart as it seeks to bring the next 200 million Indian shoppers online.

After Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon's visit to Flipkart a few weeks ago, she met with the PhonePe staff and said she appreciated the work they were doing to revolutionise financial payments through technology.

"Flipkart's partnership with Walmart is helping the Group better serve Indian customers and accelerate its growth with products and solutions that solve real problems in the country. These include supply-chain infrastructure that is disrupting the industry to benefit local consumers, suppliers and manufacturers, "Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said.

Walmart in May 2018, had announced that it is buying 77 per cent stake in Flipkart for about Rs 1.05 lakh crore, it's biggest deal which will give the US retailer access to Indian e-commerce market that is estimated to grow to $200 billion within a decade.

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