Walmart-owned Flipkart has launched India’s first metaverse-based shopping platform named ‘Flipverse’ amid the ongoing festive sale. The platform will allow users to discover and shop products interactively. Presently, the service will be available for 15 brands including apparel brands like Puma, Nivea, Noise, Tokyo Talkies, Campus, VIP, Ajmal Perfumes, Himalaya, Butterfly India, Colgate and more.
‘Flipverse’ will be available for Android users from October 17 for a week. The online retailer which is gearing for a public listing will provide its customers with “gamified, interactive and immersive” experiences through Flipverse and offer digital collectables from partner brands after making purchases. It also aims to drive its loyalty points viz. Super coins through this latest three-dimensional shopping experience.
“Through this, we want to see if brands are getting better attention spans on Flipkart’s product page. Engagement and how many people are concurrently using it are a few metrics. On average, people spend 20 seconds in a video, with augmented reality it is about 45 seconds, and with Flipverse we are hopeful we'll cross that,” said a senior company executive of Flipkart.
The pilot run will last for a week, but the company has not disclosed when the final rollout will take place. Flipkart executives also added that it is not looking at growing its sales or monetization benefits through this for the time being.
Using the Flipkart app, you can access the space in the newly introduced category called “Firedrops”, but it will take a while for it to fully load. Shoppers using their mobile networks should anticipate longer wait times. You can begin shopping after selecting an avatar and a nickname for yourself.
It summarises the features and product information once you arrive at a counter and select a product. The app will take you to the product page if you choose to claim an offer or purchase it at that point. Although the product features and showcasing are well placed, moving from one counter to another as an avatar can take some time to get used to.
Flipkart is not the only company jumping on the Metaverse bandwagon; others include Nike, Adidas and Louis Vuitton.
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