Quick take:
- The company aims to have the NFT project ready by October.
- Flipkart will be focusing on localising its NFTs.
- The company is likely to link NFTs with physical products.
Indian e-commerce company, Flipkart, is working on its own NFT-related business. This was revealed in response to an employee’s question during today’s town hall about whether the company was looking to introduce Web3 products.
Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said that the company is in its early stages of building an NFT-related business. While it’s still a work-in-progress, this could be India’s first retailer to introduce NFTs. Internal sources say that the company is aiming to have the project ready by October.
According to people briefed on the matter, Flipkart will be focusing on localising its NFTs. With NFT sales performing poorly in India, the company will double down on creating awareness and providing utility-driven NFTs, and possibly linking them with physical products.
Sandeep Sangli, the founder of NFT platform Kalamint told Coindesk: “Historically Indians have not been collectors. Art is something Indians haven’t really warmed up to as an asset class. For NFTs to work in India they need to have utility.”
“You can’t just clone a successful model in the West, like selling a moment in sports. They (Flipkart) want to go after what the Indian audience and user understands and those are a lot more around a physical product, value and utility,” someone familiar with the matter told Economic Times.
This person added that Flipkart’s NFT offerings could include infrastructure tools for brands to use as brands and products will take different approaches to monetising their NFTs.
While plans are not set in stone, Flipkart won’t be the first e-commerce company to enter the NFT space. eBay said users are already selling NFTs on the platform. CEO Jamie Iannone said that “eBay will be the place where people trade goods, whether they be physical or digital.”
Japanese e-commerce and online retailing company Rakuten Group, Inc. launched its NFT marketplace in February, featuring listings of NFTs ranging from sports and entertainment to music and anime from Japan.
Recently, e-commerce giant Amazon told CNBC that the company may start selling NFTs in the future.
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