India’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will now be able to obtain interactive online training under the Walmart Vriddhi Program. The training will have personalized monitoring with access to “resources” and experts, the company said.
Judith McKenna, President and CEO of Walmart International says, “Walmart Vriddhi opens up opportunities for MSMEs to sell into Walmart’s supply chains or the open marketplace. Wherever they are in their journey and whatever their aspirations for growth, that openness makes the program unique and puts the supplier at the center of everything we do.”
The Walmart Vriddhi’s first all-digital e-institute will initially be open to MSMEs based in and around Panipat, Sonipat, and Kundli towns in Haryana. Thereafter, it will roll out in other regions, the company said.
Eligible MSMEs will be able to access the digital training experience through a mobile application available on iOS and Android, the details of which will be shared soon.
Walmart Vriddhi was launched in December 2019 with the target of empowering 50,000 Indian MSMEs for domestic and global supply chains. During the pandemic with manufacturing remaining shut except for PPEs, Walmart has been guiding MSMEs to make the necessary transitions and tackling the challenges.
Sarangi Creations, fabric and textile goods exporter, is one such enterprise. With the markets closed during the earlier half of the pandemic and their raw fabrics sitting at the storage, with the support of the Walmart Vriddhi Programme the company took upon the task of manufacturing those raw fabrics into PPE products (masks, etc.) and then sold them in the market. There are more such examplea.
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart Group says, “As India adjusts to the ‘new normal,’ digital transformation is a path to resilience for businesses. In line with the government’s Digital India initiative, we want to help Indian MSMEs digitize so they can react to market trends and challenges with speed and agility, better serve their customers and grow their business.”