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5 takeaways from CNBC’s investigation into Walmart Marketplace

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5 takeaways from CNBC’s investigation into Walmart Marketplace


Walmart‘s online marketplace has become a key part of its strategy to grow profit faster than sales and better compete against its longtime rival, Amazon.

As the largest U.S. retailer with more than 4,600 locations nationwide, growing sales online is also critical for its future.

But a CNBC investigation found Walmart’s digital boom came as it made it easier for third-party sellers to join and sell on its marketplace, a strategy that has come with a cost.

Some consumers have received counterfeit, potentially dangerous products after shopping on the marketplace, CNBC found. The investigation also uncovered dozens of third-party sellers who had stolen the credentials of another business to set up an account, including some who were offering fake health and beauty items.

In the early days of Walmart’s online marketplace, former employees and sellers said it had strict policies for vetting third-party sellers and the products they offer. But over time, Walmart loosened those controls in a bid to woo sellers away from Amazon and appear more friendly than its rival, according to sellers, e-commerce consultants, and current and former employees. 

When asked for comment on CNBC’s reporting, Walmart said “trust and safety are non-negotiable for us.” 

“Counterfeiters are bad actors who target retail marketplaces across the world, and we are aggressive in our efforts to prevent and combat their deceptive behavior,” Walmart said. “We enforce a zero-tolerance policy for prohibited or noncompliant products and continue to invest in new tools and technologies to help ensure only trusted, legitimate items reach our customers.” 

CNBC’s investigation uncovered new details about Walmart’s strategy to grow its online marketplace and the risks it took to take market share from Amazon. 

Here are five takeaways from the investigation.

Stolen identities and product tests 

During CNBC’s investigation into Walmart’s marketplace, it found at least 43 third-party sellers who had used the identity of another business to set up their account. Some of these sellers were impersonating large, publicly traded companies such as Thermo Fisher Scientific and Rockwell Medical, while others were smaller, private businesses, such as a New York grocery chain and a Chicago pizzeria. 

CNBC purchased and tested six items for its investigation, all of them highly rated, deeply discounted beauty products offered by sellers that were impersonating legitimate businesses. All of them were fake, according to brands and lab testing. 

Walmart trailers sit in storage at a Walmart Distribution Center in Hurricane, Utah on May 30, 2024.

George Frey | AFP | Getty Images

Some of the companies that were being impersonated on Walmart.com told CNBC they had received mysterious packages at their homes or businesses that they later realized were customer returns. 

One of them, Lifeworks-ACS, received at least 14 returns and mailed them to CNBC for authentication. All of them were found to be counterfeit. 

Employee pressure 

During the Covid pandemic, Walmart’s marketplace boomed and the company gradually made it easier for sellers to join and list items on the platform, former employees said. 

One of those former employees, Tammie Jones, said when she first joined Walmart’s seller vetting team, the requirements to join the marketplace were strict. But she said over time, there was pressure from management to approve more sellers, even when she had concerns about the applicant’s credentials or documentation.

“It got to a point where they were just like, ‘You know what? Just go ahead and approve everybody,'” said Jones. “They wanted that business, so they were willing to take a chance on it.” 

Onboarding and product vetting 

The requirements to join Amazon’s and Walmart’s marketplaces are different. Amazon often makes sellers conduct a video interview with a company employee, while Walmart’s marketplace does not list a video interview as a requirement to join.

Over time, Walmart also made changes to the documentation it requires sellers to submit during the application process. In the past, applicants were required to provide their employer identification number and both a W-9 and EIN form, according to a video of Walmart’s application uploaded in February 2022.

As recently as late March, applicants still needed to provide their EIN, but they were no longer required to upload their W-9 and EIN form, according to a video of Walmart’s seller application posted to YouTube on March 31. 

At the time, the only document U.S. sellers were required to upload was a copy of their driver’s license or passport, according to the video. Additional IRS documentation was listed as “optional,” the video shows. 

There are also differences in the documentation Amazon and Walmart require from sellers about the products they want to list. On Amazon, some sellers are asked to provide invoices showing how they sourced their products, which includes proof they purchased between 10 and sometimes as many as 100 units. The Walmart sellers CNBC spoke to, who were interviewed before Walmart changed some aspects of its vetting process in July, said they were rarely, if ever, asked to provide details on how they sourced their goods. Those who were asked to submit documents said they often only needed to show an invoice for one unit and occasionally, answer a few questions about their supplier.

Providing an invoice that only shows one unit, compared with 10 or 100, makes it easier for people to resell stolen or counterfeit goods, experts said. 

Walmart’s changes

About three weeks after CNBC shared its reporting with Walmart, the company changed some of its marketplace vetting policies for beauty and personal-care products in late July.  

In an email Walmart sent to some sellers, the company announced new restrictions for the category and said it would start requiring certain sellers to participate in an “enhanced vetting program” for those kinds of items. The changes would address some of the issues raised in CNBC’s reporting. 

As part of the new program, some sellers would have to provide documentation for each personal-care or beauty item in their assortment, such as an invoice that demonstrates the product was sourced directly from a brand owner or manufacturer. 

Numerous beauty and personal-care listings were taken down from the platform after the change, some sellers said. 

Legal landscape 



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Four ports under construction in Andhra Pradesh, Centre tells Lok Sabha – The Times of India

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Four ports under construction in Andhra Pradesh, Centre tells Lok Sabha – The Times of India


The Centre is pushing port-led infrastructure expansion in Andhra Pradesh, with four ports currently under construction, even as it steps up nationwide port modernisation and efficiency measures.As per information shared on Friday in Parliament, the ports under construction in Andhra Pradesh are Mulapeta Port (formerly Bhavanapadu Port) in Srikakulam district, Machilipatnam Port in Krishna district, Ramayapatnam Port in SPSR Nellore district, and Kakinada SEZ Port in Kakinada district.The government said it is undertaking measures such as mechanisation of berths and terminals, digitalisation and logistics integration, new berth construction, capital dredging for larger vessels, and connectivity upgrades across road, rail and waterways.It has also rolled out initiatives including elimination of manual forms, direct port delivery and entry, container scanners, e-delivery of documents and payments, RFID-based gate automation and Maritime Single Window platform SagarSetu 2.0 to cut vessel turnaround time.Two new ports — Vadhavan Port in Maharashtra and Galathea Bay Port in Andaman and Nicobar Islands — have been notified as major ports. At present, 12 major ports operate under the central government, while 68 other-than-major ports are under state governments.Under the Sagarmala scheme, financial assistance is provided across five pillars including port modernisation, connectivity, port-led industrialisation, coastal community development and inland water transport.The government has also launched HaritSagar green port guidelines, the Green Tug Transition Programme (GTTP), and the Cruise Bharat Mission to promote sustainability and cruise tourism.The information was given by Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.At present, 12 major ports operate under the administrative control of the central government, while 68 operational other-than-major ports are under state governments.The government said it has launched multiple national programmes for port development, expansion and upgradation. Under the Sagarmala scheme, financial assistance is provided under five pillars — port modernisation, port connectivity, port-led industrialisation, coastal community development, and coastal shipping and inland water transport.Green and sustainability-linked initiatives have also been introduced. The government has launched HaritSagar green port guidelines to promote environment-friendly port ecosystems and initiated the Green Tug Transition Programme (GTTP) to shift harbour tugs towards greener fuel alternatives.Further, the Cruise Bharat Mission has been launched to prioritise cruise tourism development across the country.



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Anthropic At $380 Billion Surpasses India’s Top IT Firms Combined As AI Fears Rock Stocks

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Anthropic At 0 Billion Surpasses India’s Top IT Firms Combined As AI Fears Rock Stocks


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Anthropic’s AI tools have triggered a sharp decline in Indian IT stocks like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, eroding Rs 3,11,873 crore in market value.

Anthropic's valuation surpassed combined value of total IT firms in India

Anthropic’s valuation surpassed combined value of total IT firms in India

The entire Information Technology (IT) industry in India is battering with the existential threat, which comes on the heels of rising generative AI, posing doubts over the viability of their business model.

Stocks of the IT industries, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, etc., hit brutally over the past week. This was triggered with the launch of new AI tools by Anthropic’s Claude for Cowork, which is like an office teammate helping the user to do tasks such as file sorting, reading legal drafts, etc.

Anthropic’s Valuation vs Nifty IT Index

Anthropic’s phenomenal valuation rise has surpassed the combined value of India’s top IT firms. Standing at a valuation of $380 billion, the US-based AI company has eclipsed India’s Nifty IT index, whose market cap was at $296.4 billion by the time of writing this report.

Investors are accelerating their exit from technology stocks as concerns intensify that advanced artificial intelligence tools could disrupt core segments of the global software and IT services industry.

This week alone, TCS, Infosys and HCL Technologies dragged 9-11 per cent.

The sharp correction has wiped out substantial investor wealth. Based on intraday lows, the combined market capitalisation of the top five domestic IT companies has eroded by nearly Rs 3,11,873 crore this week.

TCS emerged as the biggest laggard, losing Rs 1,28,800 crore in market value, with its market capitalisation slipping to Rs 9,35,253 crore. The fall also pushed it to the fifth-most valued listed company from the fourth position.

Infosys has seen its market capitalisation shrink by Rs 91,431 crore following a 15 per cent decline this week. HCL Technologies has lost Rs 53,647 crore in market value over the past five trading sessions. Wipro and Tech Mahindra have also recorded declines, with their market capitalisations falling by Rs 22,762 crore and Rs 15,233 crore, respectively, during the same period.

Company Name Mcap ($Billion)
Tata Consultancy Services 107.4
Infosys 61.2
HCL Technologies 43.6
Wipro 24.8
Tech Mahindra 16.6
LTIMindtree 16.7
Persistent Systems 9.5
Oracle Financial Services Soft 6.4
Coforge 5
Mphasis 5.2
Total 296.4
Source: Bloomberg

Anthropic’s Recent Funding Round

Anthropic has recently raised $30 billion in Series G funding led by GIC and Coatue, valuing Anthropic at $380 billion post-money, as announced by the company in the press release.

The investment will fuel the frontier research, product development, and infrastructure expansions that have made Anthropic the market leader in enterprise AI and coding.

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IndiGo plans to hire over 1,000 pilots after December’s crew crunch – The Times of India

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IndiGo plans to hire over 1,000 pilots after December’s crew crunch – The Times of India


IndiGo, the country’s largest airline is set to go on a hiring spree, bringing over 1,000 pilots on board. This comes after the aviation giant faced massive operational disruption last December, when the company was forced to cancel more than 5,000 flights within seven days.The fresh intake will span trainee first officers, senior first officers and commanders. A recruitment notice shows the carrier is also ready to accept applicants without time on the Airbus A320, the workhorse aircraft across its network, ET reported.Under the updated framework, the number of landings permitted between 12 am and 6 am has been limited, while the mandatory weekly rest period for pilots has gone up.A review carried out by the irectorate General of Civil Aviation concluded that the airline had neither hired in line with the new rules nor accelerated its training capacity. This, the probe noted, resulted in pilots being stretched through repeated reassignments, lengthier duty spans and greater use of deadheading, in which crew are moved as passengers to operate flights elsewhere.

Stepping up expansion

A senior official, as cited by ET, maintained that IndiGo is now lining up a steady supply of cockpit crew to keep pace with rapid aircraft additions. The airline’s in-house system is currently upgrading about 20–25 first officers to captain each month. Now, alongside hiring, the carrier has begun adjusting its network planning to create more breathing space in daily operations. From almost no buffer in December, the margin has been raised to 3% this month. Standby crew availability has also been lifted to a minimum of 15%.Fleet expansion is continuing at a brisk rate, with roughly four aircraft joining the airline every month on average.Training remains a long lead activity. Trainee first officers require around six months before they are cleared to operate, while promotion to captaincy demands at least 1,500 hours of flying, though airlines may prescribe stricter benchmarks.While the regulator’s baseline requirement is three sets of pilots per aircraft, including one captain and one first officer, IndiGo’s intense utilisation levels push its need to well over twice that figure.Figures placed during the inquiry into the December episode showed the airline needed 2,422 captains but had 2,357.

DGCA findings

After the disruption, the watchdog stepped in with temporary relaxations, suspending night-duty restriction rules until February 10.In its assessment, the DGCA said there was an overriding focus on maximising utilisation of crew, aircraft, and network resources, which significantly reduced roster buffer margins.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that the airline structured its crew schedules to extract the longest possible duty hours, leaning heavily on deadheading, tail swaps and stretched work patterns while leaving very little room for recovery. It noted that such planning weakened roster integrity and hurt operational resilience.



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