American retail giant Walmart will go beyond bricks-and-mortar in India as it looks for opportunities to enter online market.

Sources knowledgeable on the development said that Walmart is in talks with e-commerce companies in India for a possible tie-up.

Walmart, however, kept mum on the reports.

The US giant recently increased its stake in Chinese e-commerce company Yihaodian.

E-commerce growth in India has spurred new shopping site including jungle.com, an online shopping website launched by Amazon.

The president of retail consultancy firm Technopak, Saloni Nangia, said India’s e-commerce attracts many foreign retailers due to its strong potential.

“As modern retail is still a very small share of the market and India is a growing economy, a multi-channel presence will help build a stronger presence in the market,” she said.

Online retail is estimated to account 0.1 per cent for India’s total retail market value of an estimated Rs25 lakh crore (US$500 billion) annually.

In India, Walmart, together with a local partner Bharti Enterprises, operates 17 cash and carry stores. Indian market accounted around Rs5000 crore (US$1 billion) in its global revenue of US$400 million.

GB