Flipkart Focussing On Market Share Over Profitability: Walmart Int'l CEO

Walmart International CEO Kathryn McLay has said that the retail giant’s India ecommerce arm, Flipkart, will not prioritise profitability over market share and future growth.

“We’re excited about their (Flipkart) growth. We are not so focussed on profitability that we would trade off market share and growth for the future. So, (when) you take the balance of all of that, we will get there (achieve profitability) at the right time,” said McLay.

Speaking at brokerage firm Bernstein’s 41st Annual Strategic Decisions Conference 2025, McLay also said that Walmart is working on multiple aspects to push Flipkart’s profitability, including growing “core ecommerce” and fashion ecommerce marketplace Myntra’s business, shoring up quick commerce and spurring digital advertising on its various platforms.

Noting that Flipkart is on the right trajectory, she added that the ecommerce platform is on the “path to profitability”.

On the growing popularity of 10-minute deliveries in India, McLay said that quick commerce currently accounts for 20% of the total ecommerce market in India. She said that quick commerce is at “50% growth trajectory” in the country, and added that Walmart plans to aggressively “play” in the segment.

Flipkart’s Tryst With Quick Commerce

Speaking about Flipkart’s foray into the quick commerce arena, McLay said that the ecommerce platform “used to deliver at best within a day” a year ago but today offers a “15-minute promise”. She added that Flipkart currently boasts 250 fulfillment centres that deliver products “within minutes”.

“It was a 1-2 day promise. Now we have a 15-minute promise, and sometimes we can deliver in as short as 3 minutes. Like, those capabilities are, you know, insane for me. They’re kinda mind blowing. But, as we’ve been on that path to profitability, we are now investing into a new emerging area (quick commerce),” added McLay.

McLay said that the US-based retailer has been sharing learnings from China operations with the Indian team to enable the latter to be able to deliver orders in less than 15 minutes.

“So, when we saw the rise in quick commerce, (the) CEO of Flipkart asked me, where can I learn across Walmart Enterprise about speed? And I pointed him to China. So, he sent a team over… and they understood and learned from that…” added McLay.

The Walmart International CEO said that Flipkart then iterated on how to build an “equation” around square footage, proximity of dark stores, number of orders, number of delivery partners, speed to refine their quick commerce business model. “And they (Flipkart) will keep refining on that model, and then they will pass those learnings back (not only) to China but also other markets,” she said.

On the difference between Walmart’s ecommerce operations in India and China, the senior Walmart executive said that Flipkart operates purely as a 3PL online business and boasts digital advertising, unlike its platform in China.

Meanwhile, she also termed Myntra as a “one of the hidden gems” in the Flipkart business, adding that the fashion marketplace’s unique selling proposition lies in customisation and hyper-personalisation.

Flipkart’s Quick Commerce Spree

Notably, McLay’s bullishness on quick commerce coincides with Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy last month saying that the ecommerce major is looking to increase the dark store count of Minutes to 800 by the end of 2025.

Competing with the likes of Eternal-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and BigBasket’s BB Now, Minutes is currently operational in 14 cities and runs a network of more than 400 dark stores, or mini warehouses.

Recently, vice president at Flipkart Minutes, Kabeer Biswas, told Business Standard that the platform is witnessing traction in tier II & III cities. He added that the quick commerce service is doubling daily order volumes every 45 days.

Biswas also said that Minutes is looking to drive higher average order values (AOVs) and profitability by tapping into Flipkart’s wider product catalogue.

To fuel this growth, the company has raised more than $644 Mn from its Singapore-based parent in the past few months. Just a day ago, the ecommerce major’s marketplace arm, Flipkart Internet, received $262 Mn cash infusion from its Singapore-based parent entity. This came barely two months after the .

The developments also come at a time when Flipkart is gearing up for its IPO. The ecommerce major is aiming to list on the Indian bourses soon and has . It may launch an IPO in 2026.

On the financial front, in FY24 and loss declined 41% YoY to INR 2,358 Cr.

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