Walmart is expanding ties with suppliers in India as it works toward sourcing $10 billion in goods annually from the country.
The retail giant recently wrapped up a supplier summit in New Delhi. Following a first round of pitch meetings —with over 100 Walmart representatives present — 80% of participating suppliers were invited to the next round. That could include a bid process with the retailer, an invitation to join Walmart’s third-party marketplace, or both, according to the company.
The summit was part of Walmart’s broader effort to triple the amount of exports it receives from India to $10 billion by 2027. To date, the company has sourced $30 billion across multiple categories, it said in the release.
Walmart aims to help accelerate exports from India in categories where the country has expertise, including food, consumables, health and wellness, general merchandise, apparel, shoes, home textiles and toys, according to the company.
The recent summit “further enhanced Walmart’s commitment to support India’s ambition to develop the country’s supply chain to be a leading participant in global markets, bringing together the Walmart sourcing innovation team and India-based supply chain innovators,” Walmart said.
Also last week, the retailer announced that a separate India-focused supplier program, Walmart Vriddhi, hit its goal of graduating 50,000 suppliers ranging from “micro” to medium in size.
Launched in 2019, Walmart Vriddhi provides free training on everything from finance and marketing to sustainability, as well as mentoring and digital tools to help businesses “grow, scale and integrate into domestic supply chains in India,” according to Walmart. The retailer runs the program with Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart, which Walmart majority owns.
Several retailers and manufacturers have ramped up sourcing efforts in India recently. Discount retailer Five Below opened a sourcing office in India last year to connect with suppliers, and furniture retailer Ikea reportedly aims to scale up sourcing from the country as well.
Walmart also plans to host supplier summits in Mexico and Chile in the coming months.
This story was first published in our Procurement Weekly newsletter. Sign up here.
