Flipkart Wholesale, the business-to-business marketplace of Indian homegrown e-commerce major Flipkart Group said that it will be onboarding 5000 employees of Walmart India, post the acquisition of the entity in July this year.
The 5000 employees that are full time in nature including store staff (management and non-management); will take on new roles, Flipkart said in a statement.
The e-tailer also added that the job offers made to employees at Walmart India have been aligned to corresponding roles at Flipkart in terms of compensation, responsibility and profiles based on industry best-practices, after consultation with external HR experts.
Apart from their current compensation, transitioning employees will also be allowed to participate in Flipkart Wholesale’s ESOP plan, and will be assigned a performance bonus structure, Flipkart said.
This reverse acquisition of the business-to-business segment of Walmart in India is expected to help Flipkart further expand its footprint in the food and grocery segment and strengthen its supply chain.
Walmart India operates 28 Best Price stores and has two fulfilment centres.
“As Flipkart prepares for the next decade, we will continue to focus on our people and to expand the talent pool, as we create products that set standards in the industry. With the right talent onboard, this B2B marketplace will leverage Flipkart’s strong homegrown technology capabilities and Walmart India’s unique understanding of the wholesale market in India to offer small businesses a compelling proposition to serve their customers better,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive officer (CEO) of Flipkart Group.
The platform which is targeted at fashion retailers, especially footwear and apparel, was launched initially in Gurugram, Delhi and Bengaluru, and has expanded the category to 23 cities since.
Flipkart Wholesale also has plans to add categories such as home, kitchen and grocery overtime.
“We now have the combined strength of the talent from both Flipkart and Walmart that are geared to unlock the potential of technology to bring prosperity to the retail ecosystem. Our focus on small businesses, providing them with attractive schemes and incentives, supplemented with data-driven recommendations for stock selection,” said Adarsh Menon, senior vice president and head of Flipkart Wholesale.
McMillon also added that during this ongoing pandemic, Flipkart has helped facilitate and address working capital of needs worth $450 million for several suppliers, giving a boost to the supply chain.
“Walmart and Flipkart are supporting small businesses with training for 50,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises through our ‘Walmart Ready’ programme in India, and providing technical assistance for MSMEs. Walmart and Flipkart look to strengthen local suppliers by offering support to Indian communities through local giving efforts. And we’re not just supporting manufacturers, we’re also supporting farmers,” McMillon said.
This article was first published on livemint.com.
