“The listing will eventually happen. Regarding geography, we will look at multiple geographies, including India. There is no final decision on any of these aspects at this stage,” Krishnamurthy told global brokerage firm Jefferies.
The Flipkart IPO has been in the works since the last few years and it was earlier reported that the company is eyeing a listing on Wall Street.
When asked to comment on competition from the likes of Reliance and Meesho, he said good competition always helps the category and drives market expansion. “But to scale across categories beyond a point, you need end-to-end capabilities. Flipkart’s philosophy has always been to put the customer at the center of decisions, not the competitor, and this strategy has worked out very well. We made the right tech and supply chain investments that have helped e-commerce be a choice for customers,” Krishnamurthy said.
On the growing interest in quick commerce, he said it is difficult to operate that business model profitably. “The biggest question is on the viability of the business model itself. We dabbled into it and learnt a great deal,” the CEO said. Flipkart is the No. 2 player in grocery already.
“That is the segment we want to work in and add value for the customers, as 99% of India is value-conscious. We think we can deliver value and selection along with speed while being operationally effective,” he said.
Discover the stories of your interest
With a GMV at $23 billion, Flipkart is the market leader in India with a strong horizontal presence, as per Euromonitor. Currently, 70% of its customers come from tier 2/3 cities, and with Shopsy, the group aims to increase this to 90%.