Opinion | Walmart’s web shift

Walmart India has reportedly laid off more than 50 executives across business segments. The world’s top retailer also plans to shut its Mumbai fulfilment centre and halt physical-store expansion. Is this a momentary retreat, or does it mark a shift away from its brick-and-mortar model towards online retailing?

Walmart operates cash-and-carry stores in the country, and had piled up losses of nearly ₹2,200 crore by the end of March 2019. By all accounts, the regulatory environment has hamstrung its efforts to replicate its classic business model of large-format supermarkets here. Wholesale retail, it may have judged, isn’t making headway, even as foreign firms are barred from majority ownership of a multi-brand retail chain. Its $16 billion investment in Flipkart, in contrast, holds far greater promise.