Walmart-owned Flipkart has launched its UPI feature to a select group of users, said CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy while addressing a company town hall on Thursday. The UPI feature has currently been launched to a closed group of 10,000 users and will be rolled out pan India in the next 6-7 weeks, he added.

Earlier in May 2023, Flipkart launched its UPI app after its demerger with payments company PhonePe came into effect. Krishnamurthy also spoke of growth in grocery and travel categories in the town hall.

Flipkart’s grocery business had grown by 50 per cent and continues to be an area of focus for the company, he said with future plans to build on ‘Same Day Delivery’ and supply chain for order fulfilment.

The e-commerce major will will also focus on the hotel business as part of its group company, Cleartrip, which it acquired in 2021. This comes at a time amid reports of layoffs in the company across multiple functions. Flipkart undertakes these performance-based job cost cuts every year and the fresh reduction in workforce is along those lines, too.

The e-commerce giant has a total strength of 22,000 employees. Last year, it laid off employees as part of a similar restructuring exercise. The retail giant’s employees confirmed that the restructuring plan for 2024 was underway and will likely be completed by April post the appraisal.

Flipkart CEO Krishnamurthy said that the company’s financial health is improving. He added that Flipkart will be in much better shape by the end of the year. It is possible that Flipkart’s IPO will be pushed to 2025 as the unit economics will be better.

Recently, Retail giant Walmart Flipkart invested $600 million in the company, as it looks to raise $1 billion in fresh funds. The fresh infusion was at a time when Flipkart’s planned public market listing has been delayed. Flipkart was earlier eyeing a listing in 2022-23.

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