Walmart India elevates Sameer Agarwal as deputy CEO

Global retailing major Walmart has promoted Sameer Aggarwal as deputy CEO of its Indian unit from January 1, 2020. Prior to this, Agarwal held the position of chief business officer in the company and was also in charge of strategy, merchandising, cost analytics, ecommerce, technology, marketing and replenishment.

Agarwal has more than two decades of experience across industries in general management, strategy, finance, and mergers and acquisitions in various countries. Before his stint at Walmart, Agarwal has worked as the finance head, and development and supply chain officer for the US-based fast food chain KFC’s Thailand office. 

He also worked with UK-based supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and consulting firm McKinsey. Agarwal is a London Business School graduate and is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

“He (Agarwal) will continue reporting to Krish Iyer, president and CEO of Walmart India, and oversee operations, merchandising, people, marketing, real estate, kirana development program, digital, ecommerce and strategy,” said a statement.

Walmart India’s senior leadership team is led by CEO Krish Iyer, chief real estate officer Murali Krishna Lanka, chief people officer Avishkar Mehrotra, head of corporate affairs Anand Jha, and chief ethics and compliance officer Shalini Chakravorty.

The company deals in B2B ecommerce, supplying FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and consumer durables to resellers such as kirana stores, electronics outlets, stationery shops, fruit and vegetable outlets, through its brand name Best Price. 

In October 2019, the company doubled its losses to Rs 172 crore for the financial year 2018-19 as it went on an expansion drive by launching new Best Price stores and fulfilment centres. Its revenues rose 11% to Rs 4,061 crore. The global parent in May reported 40% fall in global operating profit to $790 million on revenue of $28 billion.

Earlier, Walmart acquired majority stake in homegrown ecommerce major Flipkart from its founders Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, along with other investors in a $16-billion deal. It also infused $1.2 billion in Flipkart to take on its US-based rival Amazon in India. Walmart also owns fashion brands Jabong and Myntra and fintech platform PhonePe though Flipkart. Last month, Walmart with Flipkart invested an undisclosed amount in Tiger Global-backed B2B agri marketplace Ninjacart.