Quick commerce now accounts for 20% of ecommerce sector in India: Walmart International CEO

Quick commerce now accounts for 20% of India’s ecommerce market and is growing at a rate of 50% annually, according to Kathryn McLay, CEO of Walmart International. “That’s a part of ecommerce that we want to be playing in,” she said at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, reaffirming Walmart’s growing focus on the segment through its Indian arm Flipkart.

Amid this push, Flipkart’s Indian marketplace entity has received a cash infusion of Rs 2,225 crore (around $260 million) from its Singapore-based parent, according to regulatory filings. The funds come as Flipkart accelerates investments into Minutes, its quick commerce vertical, which is targeting 800 dark stores by the end of 2025.

Earlier this month, Flipkart Minutes vice president Kabeer Biswas told ET that the company had already reached the halfway mark on that rollout.

McLay also stated that Walmart was not prioritising near-term profitability for its India ecommerce businesses — Flipkart and fashion platform Myntra — over market share and growth. Close on the heels of expanding services to Singapore, Myntra received a cash infusion of Rs 1,062.5 crore ($124 million) from its parent entity.

“We’re excited about their growth. We are not so focused on profitability that we would trade off market share and growth for the future,” she said. “You take the balance of all of that, and we will get there at the right time.”

She added that while Flipkart’s path to profitability may not be linear, Walmart has achieved success with similar models in other markets — not just at the broader business level, but within individual channels like quick commerce.

Walmart had led a $1 billion funding round in Flipkart in 2023, committing $600 million to the round.

Despite rapid growth, quick commerce continues to form a modest portion of India’s overall retail sector. As ET reported on May 19, six of the country’s top fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms — Hindustan Unilever, Britannia, AWL Agri Business (formerly Adani Wilmar), Dabur, Tata Consumer Products, and Marico — reported a combined Rs 4,400 crore in quick commerce sales for FY25, accounting for just 2–4% of their overall revenues.

A recent report by HSBC Securities projects the gross order value of India’s quick commerce market to touch $35–40 billion by FY26.

Flipkart faces stiff competition in the space from the likes of Blinkit (owned by Eternal), Swiggy’s Instamart, Zepto, Amazon, BigBasket (backed by Tata Digital), and Reliance’s JioMart.

Domicile shift, IPO roadmap, financials

Flipkart is also in the process of shifting its domicile from Singapore to India — a move that group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy called a “significant step toward aligning more closely with the economic and regulatory landscape” during a recent townhall. The reverse flip comes ahead of a planned initial public offering in 2026.

For FY24, Flipkart Internet reported operating revenue of Rs 17,907.3 crore, a 21% year-on-year increase, while its net loss narrowed by 41% to Rs 2,358 crore. Its fashion vertical Myntra turned profitable for the first time in FY24, posting a net profit of Rs 31 crore compared to a loss of Rs 782 crore in the previous year. Myntra’s revenue rose 15% during the fiscal.

The platform is also extending its reach beyond India. While facing fresh competition in the local market following Shein’s re-entry via a Reliance tie-up, Myntra is expanding to Singapore through Myntra Global. It has also launched M-Now, a rapid delivery service for fashion and home goods.