Indian online retailer Flipkart to explore metaverses and NFTs

The Walmart-owned Indian marketplace Flipkart has created an innovation laboratory to study the commercial applications of Web 3.0 technologies.

According to a statement, Flipkart Labs’ areas of interest include “metaverses, NFTs, virtual stores, games Play-to-Earn and other blockchain use cases”.

Based on these technologies, the lab is expected to develop test-ready Walmart solutions that could “take e-commerce to a new level.”

“We are at an early stage of the shift from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, and this evolution of the internet, based on the concepts of decentralisation, openness and greater usefulness for users, is affecting many areas, including e-commerce,” said Naren Ravula, vice president of Flipkart Labs.

A division of virtual and augmented reality, Flipkart Camera, will be integrated into Flipkart Labs. The company created it after acquiring the specialized startup Scapic in 2020.

The American retailing giant bought a controlling stake in Flipkart in 2018 for $16 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier in January, it was reported that Walmart was allegedly preparing to enter the metaverse space with its own NFT collections.