India, Sept. 6 -- What if the next thing you buy on Flipkart starts with a love story, a cliffhanger or a 90-second drama? The ecommerce giant is betting that entertainment could become the next leg of its commerce play.

Flipkart is now stepping into one of the hottest formats in digital entertainment: microdramas. At first glance, the move could look like classic trend-chasing, but Flipkart has been evaluating the category for nearly a year now.

According to sources close to the company, this is a calculated experiment and not a FOMO-driven bet, triggered by the explosion and adoption of short-story formats in the country.

Besides, there may be more to the opportunity than watch time. Microdramas offer something conventional ecommerce...