Walmart-backed Flipkart India Pvt. launched an in-house innovation arm called ‘Flipkart Labs’ to explore ways to expand onto the metaverse.

Through the innovation arm the Bengaluru-based e-commerce marketplace aims to test non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, virtual immersive storefronts and play-to-earn, according to a company statement Thursday.

One of the first areas of focus for Flipkart Labs is to collaborate with the web3 community and set the standard for commerce in the metaverse. web3, the next iteration of the internet, will have a profound impact across e-commerce solutions, said Naren Ravula, vice president, product strategy and deployment at Flipkart Labs adding that it “leverages the best of latest technology like blockchain for real world use cases that can digitally transform businesses like ours.”

Started in 2007, Flipkart caters to over 400 million users. US-based retail giant Walmart bought a controlling stake in Flipkart for $16 billion in 2018.

Learn more:

Can The Metaverse Transform Fashion Business Models?

There may be a better analogy than e-commerce to size up fashion’s metaverse opportunity: will it be more like streaming or 3D movies?