Walmart in India! Will it Succeed or Retreat?

Now Walmart is coming to India in a tie-up with Bharti, India's telecom major. It will be interesting to see how long they last (given their Germany, South Korea experiences) OR if they will be able to dominate the Indian retail market like they do in the US. Walmart statistics are always impressive (300b revenues, comparison with world GDPs, International trade figures etc).

India will be a tougher nut to crack as it is a much more diverse market than the ones where Walmart has apparently not succeeded. While huge scope for economies of efficiencies and supply chain improvements exist, same cannot be said for 'homegenising' the tastes of 1.2 billion people. Combining Walmart's worldclass backend with the knowledge of India's retail consumer which Bharti ostensibly has, will be the key to success. After all, Bharti has defined its core competency as marketing to the consumer, having outsourced the rest to third parties.