Walmart International chief impressed with Flipkart's innovations

E-commerce major Flipkart on Friday said that Judith McKenna, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Walmart International, is “impressed” with Flipkart’s innovation to create world class experiences for customers using technology. 

This included making a big difference to the whole ecosystem, including sellers and manufacturers across the country. “She is delighted to see Flipkart excelling by leveraging its homegrown innovations and making the most of synergies with Walmart as it seeks to bring the next 200 million Indian shoppers online,” said Flipkart.

McKenna visited India for an internal business trip between April 30 and May 3 to assess the progress made by Flipkart since acquisition of the company last May for $16 billion. 

Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, is locked in a fierce battle with US rival Amazon for dominance in India’s online retail market.

McKenna, who interacted with Flipkart group’s leadership and employees, was also accompanied by Richard Mayfield, chief financial officer (CFO), Walmart International, and Leigh Hopkins, international strategy and business development head.

McKenna, along with Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart group, and Amar Nagaram, head of Myntra and Jabong, unveiled Myntra’s first-of-its-kind service kiosk that offers shoppers a host of value-added services. 

These include flexible pick-up and drop, instant returns, trial room and free alteration of products. 

The kiosks will be launched at locations such as tech parks and large educational institutions aimed at enhancing the online shopping experience for customers. Myntra is planning to launch 30 service kiosks across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in the first phase. McKenna also met ‘kiranas’ that are part of Myntra’s unique Myntra Extended Network for Service Augmentation (MENSA) network.

During her visit, McKenna also met Sameer Nigam, CEO of digital payments company PhonePe, and his leadership team. At a townhall with PhonePe staff, McKenna had said she appreciated the work the payments company 

was doing to “revolutionise” financial payments through technology, according to Flipkart.