Working With Suppliers to Achieve Target of USD 10-Bn Sourcing From India: Walmart CEO

US-based retail giant Walmart is working with suppliers in India to meet its target of sourcing USD 10-billion goods from India for its operations worldwide, its global CEO Doug McMillon said here on Tuesday.

Walmart has increased sourcing from India over the years, and it is excited with the progress made, he said. "....over the years, you can see how the story is unfolding, and it's really broadening and becoming much more interesting," he said.

In December 2020, the Bentonville-headquartered retail giant announced a goal to source USD 10-billion products from India by 2027, aiming to boost exports in apparel, food, toys, and other categories. "At the beginning, we were sourcing products here with limited categories, but we were excited to get started... look what's happened in our sourcing business. "It's grown a lot, and now we have this goal of getting to USD 10 billion a year, which is a really big number, and together with the supplier community, we're working to achieve that," he said.

McMillon, who is on a two-day India tour, also had a walk-through here that highlighted Walmart's India growth story, covering exports, digital innovation, building inclusive supply chains and empowering communities. Besides, he interacted with some of the sellers, who were trained under its supplier development programme, Walmart Vriddhi.

On its e-commerce arm Flipkart and digital payments solution PhonePe, McMillon said, "What our teams have done to grow those businesses over the years has been inspiring." "We are really learning a lot from those businesses, the ability to innovate, the ability to move with speed, the ability to serve more and more customers, to develop sellers, to build an e-commerce marketplace, business that has just a really bright future and the chance to create a lot of opportunities for everyone," he added.

On PhonePe, McMillon said the financial services businesses, already reaches a lot of people "and helps us make things more efficient easier". "We are very proud of what's happening with the small business... I'm really excited to hear about the work that's happening with agriculture," he said. Last year, Walmart said it had sourced goods worth over USD 30 billion from the Indian market in the last two decades for its global operations. Walmart is in India for over two decades.

Walmart Global Sourcing set up office in Bengaluru in 2002, enabling Indian manufacturers to export to the US, Canada, Mexico, central America, and the UK, supplying products to Walmart stores. Earlier this month, Walmart said it is connecting with one lakh more micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the next three years in its supplier development programme in India, Walmart Vriddhi.

Through its Vriddhi initiatives, Walmart is empowering the Indian MSMEs with critical business skills and market access, which has helped them to scale their business sustainably and contribute to India's economic growth story.

Launched in 2019, Walmart Vriddhi has trained over 70,000 MSMEs so far by enabling access to digital commerce, personalised mentorship and strategic partnerships. Encouraged by the success of Vriddhi initiatives in India, Walmart has launched similar supplier development initiatives in Mexico (Crece con Walmart) and its home turf, the US (Grow with US).