Walmart Has a Tough Battle Ahead in India
After six years of grappling with New Delhi’s whimsical rules, the US retailer is still at the mercy of protectionism.
Walmart is at the mercy of India’s protectionism.
Photographer: Idrees Mohammed/AFP/Getty Images
E-commerce in India is a political and regulatory minefield. US consumer giant Walmart Inc. — which has been waiting to launch the much-anticipated initial public offering of the online marketplace it acquired for $16 billion six years ago — has had its patience tested. It’s unlikely to get Flipkart out the door next year: A 2026 IPO may be a more reasonable expectation, with a little diplomatic help from the incoming government in Washington.
The business side of things is not the reason for the delay. Flipkart is the country’s largest e-commerce player, ahead of Amazon.com Inc. The homegrown app lacks the consumer-service finesse of its rival, but its sheer reach across a continent-sized geography gives it the heft that took the likes of Unilever Plc a century to build.