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Walmart-backed Flipkart launched its UPI feature to a closed group of 10,000 users, said CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy while addressing a company town hall on Thursday.

Flipkart competitor Amazon India operates its own third-party UPI app, Amazon Pay, to complete payments within the app.

Earlier in May 2023, Flipkart launched its UPI app after its demerger with payments company PhonePe came into effect, media reports said. The ecommerce company has since been trying to ramp up its financial services portfolio, and last year, it launched a plug-and-play insurance model in partnership with Coverfox. 

According to Flipkart employees, Krishnamurthy also spoke of growth in grocery and travel categories in the town hall. The CEO informed that over the last six months, Flipkart’s grocery business had grown by 50% and continues to be an area of focus for the company, with future plans to build on ‘Same Day Delivery’ and supply chain for order fulfilment. 

The development comes amid reports that alleged layoffs in the ecommerce company to the tune of 1000 employees across multiple functions are likely to happen as part of annual performance reviews. Flipkart did not respond to specific queries sent by YourStory on the same. 

The ecommerce giant has a total strength of 22,000 employees and, last year, it laid off employees as part of a similar restructuring exercise. Flipkart employees confirmed that the restructuring plan for 2024 was underway and will likely be completed by April. 

As part of its renewed vertical focus, the Walmart-owned company will also focus on the hotel business as part of its group company, Cleartrip, which it acquired in 2021. 

The CEO added that Flipkart was on track to reduce losses. Flipkart Internet, which houses the marketplace arm of the company, reported a 42% growth in operating revenue at Rs 14,845 crore for FY23, narrowing losses by 9%. The company also recorded a GMV of $60 billion for FY23, according to a Redseer report. 

Despite the growth, ecommerce players, including Flipkart, Amazon, and Meesho, have seen a slowdown in 2023. The ecommerce industry GMV grew by only 23.5% in FY23 as compared to 73.6% in FY22, a report by ecommerce enablement platform Unicommerce highlighted.