Walmart to prioritise Flipkart’s Diwali sale ‘Big Billion Days’

• Flipkart led the e-commerce segment in India in 2020 with 66% share of the $8.3 billion festive season sale, as per a report.
  
• Walmart is on track to record $75 billion in global e-commerce by the end of this year.
  
• Walmart continues to report strong e-commerce growth from India via Flipkart, Mexico and China.

Walmart is going big on e-commerce flash sales as it continues to see strong sales throughout festive seasons across its major markets. In India, the US-based retailer would be prioritising Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale held in November during the Indian festival of Diwali, Walmart International’s President and Chief Executive (CEO) Judith McKenna said in a quarterly earnings call held on August 17.

According to consultancy firm RedSeer’s report, India’s online festive season sale during October-November 2020 raked in $8.3 billion in gross sales. Flipkart led the season with 66% of the total sales.

Flipkart Internet Private Limited, the e-commerce entity, reported a revenue of ₹6,318 crore in the financial year 2020, as per data sourced from Tofler.

“We're continuing to see strength in all of the categories that we've got, but we're prioritising the holiday season coming up. And in India, we're prioritising Big Billion Day, which is their Diwali festival, which is coming up in early November,” McKenna added.

Flipkart is going to be a strategic part of Walmart’s e-commerce play this fiscal year as well. The world’s biggest company -- in terms of revenue -- claims to be on track to record $75 billion in global e-commerce by the end of this year on strong sales growth coming from India via Flipkart, Mexico and China.

E-commerce net sales accounted for 19% of total net sales for Walmart Inc., in the last quarter.

Though Walmart did not share any numbers related to Flipkart, the President and CEO Doug McMillon emphasised that the homegrown e-commerce platform has reported another good quarter with strong sales, improving trends in monthly active users and customers.

“Our ecommerce marketplace in India, Flipkart, continues to drive strong growth in GMV [gross merchandise value], in line with our high expectations. This team has been busy... They're also increasing customer stickiness with Flipkart Plus. It's a tiered programme based on spend that helps us drive higher repeat rates. Customers and the programme transact more frequently, and we see lower churn than others,” McMillon said in the earnings call held on Tuesday.

This quarter, Flipkart raised $3.6 billion (approx. ₹26,800 crore at current rates) at a post-money valuation of $37.6 billion. The e-commerce giant’s valuation has more than doubled since Walmart acquired it for $16 billion in 2018.

Walmart’s international net sales were down by 15% to $23 billion in the April-June quarter of 2021 due to divestitures (selling, exchanging or closing down assets). Its total revenue was at $141 billion, representing a 2.4% increase from the previous quarter.

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