The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) has joined forces with Flipkart, one of India’s leading e-commerce platforms. This partnership is part of Flipkart’s ongoing initiatives to bridge the gap between academic research and industry challenges, aiming to propel forward the capabilities of e-commerce through cutting-edge technological research and development.
Under the agreement, Flipkart will extend research grants and provide market insights to the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi’s premier industry interface organisation. The collaboration is set to unlock new insights into consumer behaviour, leveraging detailed data analysis to identify nuanced segments of e-commerce users based on many factors, including shopping patterns, demographics, and the influence of peer behaviour.
A cornerstone of this partnership is the development of a versatile user activity graph employing advanced Graph Neural Network (GNN) techniques. This endeavour aims not only to overcome the constraints faced by current persona creation tools but also to facilitate a deeper understanding of user interactions and preferences through a comprehensive graph that captures the multifaceted personas of each user.
The collaboration between Flipkart and FITT is not limited to research alone; it also encompasses a series of initiatives designed to nurture an ecosystem of innovation and learning. These initiatives include the organisation of seminars, the provision of conference travel grants, and the undertaking of company-sponsored research projects on topics of mutual interest. Through these efforts, the partnership is set to make significant strides in enhancing personalised user recommendations by integrating sophisticated user personas into product recommendations.
Moreover, this collaborative venture promises to advance machine learning models, exceptionally capable of effectively processing and analysing large-scale, real-world datasets. Such advancements are expected to have a broad and lasting impact on e-commerce.
This partnership continues Flipkart’s commitment to academic alliances, having embarked on five projects over the past two years with prestigious institutions like IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Through these collaborations, Flipkart aims to address critical industry challenges while fostering a culture of research and development that bridges the academic and industrial worlds.
