Kolkata: Flipkart has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), the industry interface organisation of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D), as part of its ongoing industry-academic alliance initiatives.
As part of the MoU, Flipkart will offer research grants and market insights to FITT to generate granular, data-backed segments of users linked to different e-commerce categories based on shopping behaviour, demographics, surrounding users’ behaviour, etc., according to a media statement here on Wednesday.
The research aims to address the limitations of existing persona creation tools and to learn from a user activity graph that encompasses information about the various personas associated with each user.
Flipkart has been nurturing academic alliances to build an ecosystem of learning and development through industry-focused research to address critical industry problems. Flipkart and FITT will also jointly undertake a number of other initiatives that include organising seminars, offering conference travel grants, and engaging in company-sponsored research to support a project on a topic of mutual interest between Flipkart and the researchers from IIT Delhi.
Mayur Datar, Chief Data Scientist at Flipkart, said, “Through our collaboration with IIT Delhi, we hope to find a data-driven solution that will enable us to better understand our customers requirements and preferences, thereby elevating the shopping experience by offering persona-based recommendations. This will also provide an opportunity for academicians to work on challenges that the industry is grappling with and build innovative solutions that will help transform the e-commerce industry.”
Prof. Preeti Ranjan Panda, Dean Corporate Relations, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, said, “By combining Flipkart’s industry expertise with the academic prowess of IIT Delhi, this collaboration is poised to contribute significantly to the advancement of e-commerce technologies, ultimately enhancing the way businesses engage with and cater to their diverse customer base.”
Flipkart has been working with students and faculty members from reputed academic institutions to develop indigenous solutions that address unique real-world challenges confronted in a diverse market like India. Over the last two years, Flipkart has signed up for five projects across IIT Delhi, Bombay, and IISc.
