What Walmart said: 10 key takeaways from its post-deal conference call

In a conference call post the announcement of its deal with Flipkart, Walmart executives, including Doug McMillon, CEO, Walmart; Judith McKenna, President and CEO, Walmart International; and Greg Foran, CEO, Walmart US, took questions from analysts about the largest e-commerce deal ever.

Here are 10 key takeaways from the con-call:

1. Flipkart could go international

Walmart executives on the call said the retail giant can learn from Flipkart’s use of artificial intelligence for the future and see how it can be used for the international markets and US as well.

Walmart, in the future, could also take the Flipkart brand international. It did not, however, provide a timeline for this.

PhonePe, Flipkart’s UPI payments platform, will be used by Walmart to help expand and modernise the “kirana” store network, as outlined by Walmart in the deal announcement.

Also read: Flipkart’s journey from a bookseller platform to India’s largest e-commerce company

The Walmart executives said Myntra and Jabong, the fashion verticals of Flipkart, are an important category to win in the Indian market. According to Walmart, this makes Flipkart well-positioned to reach out to the middle class and the young population.

Walmart said it has studied the China market’s ecosystem through its acquisition of JD.com, and witnessed an exponential growth after introduction of payments. Taking lessons from there, they picked up payments, e-commerce and logistics in India — all three of which are components of Flipkart.

“India will now become a large centre of learning for the entire company,” said a Walmart executive on the call. Logistics and payments capability makes Flipkart unique, including a strong tech team. The company will explore how learnings from here can be taken to other parts of the world, they added.

Also read: Walmart adds Flipkart to its cart: The beginning of a new bout between Walmart and Amazon

In the future, Walmart could use its offline capability along with Flipkart’s online presence for an omni-channel experience. Walmart has 21 cash & carry establishments in India so far.

On a question about its expertise in the food business, Walmart said it sees great opportunity in India, in food and agriculture in the Indian economy.

The company will support Flipkart with its expertise in supply chain management and retail.

Flipkart’s long standing plan of going for an IPO was supported by Walmart, but the retail company provided no timeline for the public listing.

Whenever this happens, Flipkart will be listed as a majority-owned subsidiary of Walmart.

Also read: All talk, no shop: Flipkart-Snapdeal and other startup deals that never saw the light of day

Walmart made it clear that it looks at Flipkart as a long-term play. “If we think 10 years and beyond, we see this as a right decision to make,” the Walmart executives said.

Calling Flipkart a young business focused on customers, they characterised the investment as one made “on a set of problem solvers”.

On a question about future deals, Walmart said, “We still have the appetite for acquisitions that make sense”.