American multinational retail giant Walmart has recently announced the opening of its 22nd business-to-business Cash and Carry store in India. The store will be Walmart India’s send best price modern wholesale store in Ludhiana and company’s sixth store in Punjab. In the press release, Walmart India stated that the new store will also be integrated with B2B e-commerce platform and retailer’s 22nd Best Price store to go online. Speaking about the launch of its new store, Walmart India’s President and CEO Krish Iyer said, “I am very excited about opening the 22nd Cash and Carry store in India. It reiterates our commitment to India and our growth plans. Setting up a second store in Ludhiana and sixth one in Punjab reinforces our belief in the ease of doing business here in the state.”

News agency PTI informed that the new store will stock over 5,000 item with wide array of fresh, frozen and chilled foods including vegetables and fruit. It will also have dry groceries, personal and home care items, hotel and restaurant supplies, apparel, office supplies, electronic goods and other general merchandise items.

For Walmart India, Punjab is a significant state as it sources items such as fresh vegetables, agri-commodities, staples, meat, and beverages and non-food items including plastic-ware, glassware, decor items, brooms, mattresses, among others.

After acquiring online retailer Flipkart, Walmart India believes that omni-channel retailing has a great value in India. However, the company said it will continue to grow its cash and carry business for brick and mortar format in the country. Speaking at Retail India Summit and Expo here, Walmart India President and CEO Krish Iyer also claimed that the USD 16 billion deal to acquire Flipkart has triggered ‘renewed interest’ from foreign and domestic investors in India's retail and omni-channel space.

Iyer also mentioned that demonetisation has played a significant role in the formalisation of economy and has helped the retail sector to grow.