Flipkart won’t trade market share for profit, says Walmart International CEO

Flipkart won’t trade market share for profit, says Walmart International CEO

Walmart International, which owns Flipkart and PhonePe in India, is not letting up on its aggressive expansion plans in the country—even as the company navigates a tightening focus on profitability. Speaking at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, Kathryn McLay, President and CEO of Walmart International, said India remains one of Walmart’s top growth markets globally, alongside Mexico and China.

“We are not so focused on profitability that we would trade off market share and growth for the future,” McLay said, underlining that Walmart sees long-term upside in continuing to invest in India’s rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape.

This bullish stance comes at a time when Flipkart is under pressure to bring down costs. Moneycontrol had earlier reported that Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy has been tasked with halving the company’s monthly cash burn to $20 million, with an annual cap of $250 million.

Despite this tighter financial discipline, Flipkart is scaling investments in emerging bets such as quick commerce, fashion, fintech and artificial intelligence (AI).

“In India, there has been huge growth in quick commerce,” McLay said, adding, “Quick commerce is now about 20 percent of the e-commerce market in India, and it has got a 50 percent growth trajectory. That is a part of e-commerce we want to be playing in.”

She added that Flipkart’s original playbook—bringing branded products to tier 2 and 3 cities—has proven effective. Core verticals like electronics and apparel are now on a path to profitability, freeing up capital and bandwidth to invest in new categories and models. “We’re working on the core business, the Myntra business, quick commerce, and growing our digital advertising. It’s on the right trajectory,” McLay said.

To fuel this growth, Flipkart Internet received a fresh infusion of Rs 2,225 crore (~$262 million) from its Singapore-based parent earlier this month—its fourth internal funding round in just over a year. Flipkart’s fashion arm Myntra also secured $125 million from FK Myntra Holdings, reflecting the group's parallel push to dominate fashion commerce.

As Moneycontrol has reported, Flipkart Minutes is targeting 800 dark stores by the end of 2025, and is currently adding two new stores daily to keep up with rivals Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart.

Its fintech arm, super.money, is in talks to raise $60–100 million at a $1 billion valuation. Meanwhile, AI investments have surged six-fold in 2025, part of what Krishnamurthy has called Flipkart’s “future-readiness” strategy.

At an internal townhall last week, Krishnamurthy said Flipkart is clocking 20–25 percent growth in customers and orders, with a target to hit 30 percent by June. Fashion is leading this surge, accounting for nearly 40 percent of new customer additions across both Flipkart and Myntra.

Even as it pushes toward an eventual IPO, Flipkart is walking a tightrope—chasing growth in high-velocity categories while simultaneously streamlining costs. McLay’s comments make it clear that Walmart remains firmly committed to scaling in India, and won’t sacrifice long-term opportunity for short-term financial optics.