Shinsegae Department Store announced on the 19th that it will collaborate with the Graduate School of Data Science at Seoul National University to establish a 'hyper-personalized shopping' environment.
Shinsegae Department Store signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Graduate School of Data Science at Seoul National University in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data on the 17th.
The two sides will enhance the existing shopping information recommendation algorithm to a hyper-personalized level and establish a system to identify and improve customer inconveniences.
The goal is to provide a more personalized purchasing experience by analyzing customers' evolving interests and needs more precisely and suggesting products and benefits tailored to their tastes and requirements.
The two sides will refine the recommendation system 'S-Mind,' introduced by Shinsegae Department Store in 2017, to develop 'S-Mind 4.0.' The existing S-Mind provides information based on customer groups that share similar gender, age, and preferred brands, while the new S-Mind 4.0 will suggest products and benefits in real-time tailored to each individual customer.
To this end, they will comprehensively analyze not only the customer's purchase history but also the usage of lounges and valet parking services, coupon usage history, activities within the app's community, and online purchase data.
For example, in the case of customers who frequently purchase food and have a high discount responsiveness, a mobile push notification with an F&B (food and beverage) discount coupon will be sent 10 minutes before the VIP lounge usage time ends.
With this agreement, Shinsegae Department Store will also launch 'S-Customer Lab,' a research group within its internal data science organization. S-Customer Lab plans to focus on researching ways to enhance the service levels of offline stores and the app using the latest advanced technologies, such as AI, robotics, and extended reality (XR).
It aims to establish an 'AI personal shopper' function that provides close management to ensure convenience throughout the entire shopping process, including product recommendations, delivery, and exchange/refund.
Kim Seon-jin, head of the Sales Division at Shinsegae Department Store (vice president), said, 'This collaboration will lead to the development of innovative services that can elevate customer experience to the next level,' and added, 'We will provide a high-touch luxury experience to customers with AI services infused with Shinsegae's unique identity.'