[throwaway6498]

I work for Flipkart and I am quite happy that it's Walmart who we are going to work with instead of Amazon.

As an engineer, Walmart Labs (their research division in Bangalore) is a much better fit to Flipkart's culture than Amazon.

The engineering talent pool in Walmart Labs and Flipkart are quite similar. In Bangalore, there are a handful of companies like Google, Amazon, Walmart Labs, Flipkart, and LinkedIn who can really pay the big bucks necessary to hire the topmost talent from India.

Among these, Google has a laid back culture and does not really excel in retail. Amazon has a stressful culture and I know plenty of people who could not take the stress and long hours of working in Amazon beyond a year and moved to one of the other four companies.

Walmart Labs, on the other hand, is quite similar to us. I think there will be a good exchange of ideas and skills between the two companies.

By the way, since a lot of people are commenting here that Amazon is killing it and they are number 1. That's true. But that's not a very relevant metric. For the owners and employees of a company like Flipkart, it is not all about being number 1. It is more about being able to make substantial profit and pay the employees well enough to keep competing with the likes of Google, Amazon, and Walmart Labs in order to hire the topmost talent.

Granted Flipkart is not doing very well in making good profits right now but we are trying to make the areas where Amazon is weak at as our strengths. For example, Amazon at this time does not ship large products (things that are bigger than what you can hold in a hand) to small towns and villages. We are trying to excel in that and it has helped us survive so far. With us becoming teams with Walmart Labs, I am hoping we will do even better.

[nonamechicken]

Regarding the last para, my experience had been the opposite. Whenever I enter my pincode in Flipkart, it would say we don't deliver to your area (which is a small town). Amazon and eBay didn't have any issues. All the items I tried to buy were no bigger than a home router. I contacted Flipkart 2-3 times about it over the last 3+ years. They just gave a generic response that we are trying to expand or something.

[throwaway6498]

What you are reporting is correct and I can understand a customer's frustration due to it.

But what you are saying is not the opposite of what I am saying.

You are saying: Flipkart is weak at delivering small items to small towns. I agree with this.

I am saying: Flipkart is strong at delivering large items to small towns and Amazon is weak at that.

Do you have examples where Flipkart did not deliver a large item (certainly much larger than your home router) such as a fridge or table to your small town? That would be an interesting example that would contradict what I am saying.

[webbrahmin]

Flipkart was not delivering a Dell monitor worth rs 30000 to NOIDA which adjoins capital New Delhi. Purchased it from Infibeam.

[nonamechicken]

I meant to say Flipkart wont even ship small items to my place. While I didn't try to buy a refrigerator, I did try a 50 inch TV once. I got the same response-that it cannot be delivered. May be they cover some states fully. I am down south by the way.