The department store industry is focusing on developing 'hyper-personalized' customized services using artificial intelligence (AI).

Hyundai Department Store announced on the 19th that it will expand the application of the AI shopping assistant 'Heidi', which proposes customized offline shopping to customers, to domestic customers as well. Heidi is a service that uses generative AI to compile various information such as brand stores, restaurants, and events within department stores and outlets to provide tailored services according to individual customer preferences.

Hyundai Department Store first introduced Heidi exclusively for foreigners in July and officially launched the integrated version for both domestic and foreign customers at all Hyundai Department Stores and outlets nationwide after three months. It can be accessed by scanning the QR code attached to offline stores or by clicking the Heidi menu on the Hyundai Department Store website and app.

The average monthly usage of Heidi by foreign customers was 9,000 cases. When it was operated exclusively for foreigners, there were prominent inquiries about general course design, such as 'how to enjoy more leisurely' and 'how to tour more effectively'. There were also many inquiries about gifts and restaurants, such as 'What should I buy as a souvenir for my trip to Korea?' and 'Is there a restaurant where I can eat spicy Korean food?'.

The integrated version of Heidi has further strengthened the 'hyper-personalized' services tailored to customer preferences. In the integrated version, Heidi recommends brands and products according to the customer's gift purpose and desired price range. If the customer provides information about the recipient's gender, age, and preferences, it provides more detailed recommendations and reasons. Hyundai Department Store plans to further expand the data that can be linked to Heidi, such as online and offline purchase history, shopping cart data, and location information, to implement more sophisticated personalized curation.

Shinsegae Department Store is also focusing on enhancing lifestyle-based recommendation technology. Shinsegae Department Store began developing 'S-Mind 4.0' earlier this year in collaboration with Seoul National University's Graduate School of Data Science. 'S-Mind' is an AI-based customer analysis system first developed by Shinsegae Department Store in 2017. S-Mind 4.0 aims to provide ultra-precise personalized services by analyzing not only customers' simple purchase history but also their lifestyle patterns, areas of interest, and consumption tendencies to recommend optimal products and all content related to daily life, such as travel and art.

Lotte Department Store introduced the AI-based intelligent analysis system 'BI Agent' in June in collaboration with the data analysis company Strategy. BI Agent is a combination of the platform 'Strategy One', developed by the global data analysis company Strategy, with Lotte Department Store's internal customer analysis system. It is expected that BI Agent will enable the analysis of customer data to discover customized brands, plan marketing and content, and propose services.

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