"Shopping at a Department Store With ChatGPT"...Hyundai Department Store Steps Up AI Shopping

[Financial News] Hyundai Department Store is expanding its AI shopping services to ChatGPT, a global generative AI platform, following KakaoTalk. As more cases emerge of generative AI-assisted product searches and recommendations leading to actual purchases, the strategy is to broaden the company’s points of contact with customers at home and abroad.
According to industry sources on the 15th, Hyundai Department Store will launch a dedicated shopping plug-in service for The Hyundai Hi, its premium curation specialty mall, on OpenAI’s Apps in ChatGPT.
ChatGPT users can search for The Hyundai Hi in the plug-in menu and connect to it to receive information about Hyundai Department Store’s online and offline shopping through the chat window. They can get recommendations for gifts, pop-up stores, restaurants and more, and use links provided to visit The Hyundai Hi to purchase products, make payments and book reservations.
Hyundai Department Store is accelerating the expansion of its AI shopping services because generative AI is becoming a major channel that influences consumers’ purchasing decisions, going beyond product searches and recommendations. During this year’s Chuseok gift sales period (September 4–24), the number of visits to The Hyundai Hi through generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini was at least four times that during last year’s Chuseok holiday period.
The AI shopping service launched last April in partnership with ChatGPT for Kakao, which is based on KakaoTalk, had attracted approximately 860,000 cumulative users as of last October. In particular, visits generated through the service during this year’s Chuseok holiday period totaled about 13,000. There were many inquiries about practical gifts in the 100,000-won price range or below, including fresh foods such as Korean beef and fruit.
Hyundai Department Store plans to step up efforts to attract global customers, including foreign tourists, following this integration with ChatGPT. The idea is for foreign tourists to search ChatGPT for pop-up stores and brands at domestic department stores, then make actual visits to their offline locations.
Executive Director Lee Gi-ho, who oversees digital strategy at Hyundai Department Store, said, “We will use generative engine optimization (GEO) to ensure that products and content from The Hyundai Hi are more effectively surfaced on AI platforms.” He added, “Going forward, we will continue to combine Hyundai Department Store’s distinctive content spanning online and offline with AI technology to provide a highly refined shopping experience suited to the AI era.”

[email protected] Jang Yu-ha Reporter