Walmart India, the wholly owned subsidiary of retail behemoth Walmart Stores, has doubled its sourcing from women owned businesses in the country, revealed Krish Iyer, president &CEO of the company.

In the US, he said, Walmart had set a target of sourcing $20 billion worth of goods from women owned businesses (WOBs) within five years, which it achieved in 2016. Internationally, no value terms were set but the goal was to double sourcing from Women within five years, which has been achieved in India. Walmart India now sources from 40 women owned businesses, 10 of whom were part of its inaugural Women Entrepreneurship Development programme conducted last year.

Iyer revealed this during the launch announcement of the second edition of the WEDP. He also said the intake of women entrepreneurs in the programme that will commence in 2018 will be doubled compared to the first edition when 32 women had been selected and trained. Women entrepreneurs who have been in business for at least three years and have a minimum turnover of Rs 50 lakh, and are a registered and compliant business are invited to apply. Sixty four candidates will be selected. Other criteria for selection include the ability to scale and create enough capacity to supply to all Walmart stores.

The programme funded by Walmart will be implemented by WEConnect International in partnership with TTC Global and Amity University.

According to Krish Iyer, although a longer credit window was given to women suppliers, the impetus to source more from women was not a philanthropic initiative but made strategic sense as well. He said surveys had shown that products made by WOBs were of higher quality, and tended to have repeat purchase value. Given that women constitute the bulk of shoppers, it made sense that women manufacturers would understand the needs of the shoppers better, he said.

Now Walmart has also created a special logo for products made by WOBs. Already products from Luxor, run by Pooja Jain and Nectar Fresh, run by Chaaya Nanjappa, carry this logo and it will be extended to other suppliers as well.

In India, Walmart owns and operates 21 Best Price cash and carry format modern wholesale stores spread across nine states. It has announced plans to add 50 more stores by 2021, of which seven stores will be launched next year.