Flipkart to debut its own standalone Wechat imitation app by 2017 end

Good artists copy, great artists steal, said Pablo Picasso, one of the 20th century's most influential artists. Tencent's WeChat app is widely used over the world for instant messaging to payment services. Now, Flipkart plans to follow a similar model to develop an app-PING which can be used  for everything from ordering food to calling a cab to even ordering food products.

The company is currently speaking to top players in food,cab and travel aggregators and is expected to launch its app by the end of the year.Prakash Sikaria, Senior Director of Monetisation and new initiatives at Flipkart said,

"The business is targeting a December launch and will follow a WeChat model, where the Flipkart app can be used to book a cab, order food or plan your travel.With the launch of loyalty points for all purchases on Flipkart, the Flipkart platform will act as a distribution channel for these services"

Flipkart currently intends to remain independent when it comes to daily essential goods.For this sector,it plans to launch an in-house grocery soon.

While it is unclear whether Flipkart will use its own digital wallet PhonePe  when it launches the app. A downside to such an app would be that the app would attract too much traffic and may even have features that users are unaware of, Sikaria said.