ChosunBiz, the economic outlet of the Chosun Media Group, held the 14th Consumer and Retail Forum on the 16th at the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Josun Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul. This year's forum was held under the theme "In the AI era, how are choices made?" Representatives from the retail, consumer goods, and commerce industries examined how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing product discovery, purchasing, and brand experiences, and discussed new conditions for hit products. About 320 people, including industry officials, attended the event.
Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Yeom Tae-young said in congratulatory remarks, "In the past, consumers looked for products, but now it is an era in which AI and platforms propose new choices to consumers," adding, "AI can be a tool that helps with choices, but what wins consumers' hearts is the authenticity of people and brands." People Power Party lawmaker Choi Eun-seok said, "The retail strategy of the AI era must combine with the global competitiveness of K-brands to become a new growth engine for the retail industry in Korea." Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stressed in a video message, "Even in the AI era, what is ultimately chosen is the value, appeal, and authenticity that move people's hearts."
◇ "An era when AI chooses and buys instead"
James Jang, CEO of Gmarket Co., gave the first keynote speech and predicted that AI shopping agents will change the order of e-commerce. He said, "In the offline era, consumers chose one out of dozens of products on the shelf, and in the digital era they had to compare thousands or tens of thousands of products themselves," adding, "In the era of AI shopping agents, the options will be drastically compressed again, and the structure could shift to agents even making the purchase on behalf of consumers."
Jang explained that if AI comes to handle not only product discovery, comparison, and recommendations but also the purchasing process, the way brands and manufacturers are chosen by consumers will also change. He said, "AI agents do not respond to emotional elements," adding, "They judge based on a product's objective strengths, the consistency of reviews, and fit with consumer preferences." He continued, "Whereas search engine optimization (SEO) used to be important, AI optimization will become more important going forward."
Maeng Ji-seon, head of enterprise business development at Amazon Web Services (AWS), cited agentic AI as key to changing the competitive landscape in retail. Agentic AI refers to AI that goes beyond Generative AI, which simply answers questions, to understand customer intent and perform real actions such as product discovery, comparison, recommendation, and purchase.
Maeng said, "We need to understand the essence of retail and consumer goods corporations and apply agentic AI to maximize competitiveness," adding, "Human work is shifting to reviewing, and we are entering a phase of breaking work into parts and automating by delegating a bit more to AI." Maeng added, "Competition in online retail is shifting from the attention economy, which drew consumers' eyes, to the intention economy, which understands consumers' purchase intent," and said, "Domestic corporations should pursue being AI-native and teach their employees."
Yeom Myeong-rang, former head of the food business unit at Lotte Wellfood, emphasized the importance of using data to uncover consumers' hidden deficiencies. Yeom said, "Consumers in Korea now spend for 'me' rather than 'us,'" adding, "corporations must find consumers' hidden deficiencies with data and connect them to insights."
Yeom said, "The keywords 'us,' 'family,' and 'mom' have been shifting to 'me' since 2023," analyzing that "consumers in Korea have entered an era of a single-person-household mindset regardless of their actual family structure or relationships." Yeom added, "In the food business, meaningful data include purchase histories, social media (SNS) data, payment terminal data, and survey data," and said, "Only when data accumulate can we know where consumers pursue happiness."
◇ "Consumers buy experiences over products"
There was also a diagnosis that even in an era when AI narrows choices, experiences are what move consumers' hearts. Song Su-jin, a professor in the School of Convergence Management at the College of Global Business, Korea University, said, "Today's consumers do not stop at simply purchasing products; they collect experiences to build their identities as 'experience collectors.'"
Song said, "Consumers in the AI era dislike wasting emotions, time, and attention," adding, "As technology reduces inconvenience and trial and error, consumers are using their remaining time and attention to pursue experiences that are more memorable." Song cited meaning, fun, and authenticity as the core elements of the experiences consumers collect and advised, "You should provide meaning, fun, and authenticity rather than the product itself."
Seong Dong-hoon, head of the platform division in the commerce unit at CJ ENM, presented the potential of content commerce. Seong said, "Content must become the store," adding, "This is an era that requires innovation of the entire funnel—the process in which consumers, after recognizing a brand, go through exploration and comparison to make a purchase—so that purchases happen directly in content." The explanation is that the model must move away from typing product names into a search bar to buy, and instead build a structure in which consumers discover products while watching content and proceed to purchase.
Lee Jeong-pyo, head of marketing and executive director at GS Retail, stressed that while AI can assist consumers' choices, the final decision is made by brand and experience. Lee said, "AI recommends the average," adding, "Covering diverse tastes is competitiveness." Lee also introduced a case in which the convenience store GS25 expanded a single meal from a simple product into experience consumption through a collaboration product using the intellectual property (IP) of a chef from the Netflix show "Culinary Class Wars."
◇ K-brands must design content, creators, and external sales
Park Sang-hyeop, e-commerce client partner at the Global Business Center of TikTok Korea, said TikTok Shop should be viewed not as a simple sales channel but as a structure that creates external sales. Park said, "What matters most on TikTok Shop is, ultimately, external sales," adding, "It is important to determine what we ultimately want through this and how we will make salespeople for our brand." According to the presentation, the gross merchandise value (GMV) of Korean brands on TikTok Shop in the United States last year increased 458% from the previous year, and the number of Korean brands that opened on TikTok Shop tripled.
Park cited operating "affiliate creators" as the key to success on TikTok Shop. Park said, "TikTok Shop runs only when you create a large number of sales forces through affiliate creators," adding, "Merchants need to consider how to train people to sell products well." However, Park also said, "If you look only at TikTok Shop, losses can grow," adding, "Since virality can lead to Amazon sales and placements in offline retail, you must be clear about your goals."
Shin Ji-hye, executive director at STS Development Co., said, "In the past, locations with convenient transportation, such as Myeong-dong or Sinchon in Seoul, determined commercial districts, but now it matters who has moved into the neighborhood and what brands and content are there," adding, "This is an era when not the space itself but the players who fill it create hot places."
In the panel discussion following the lectures, Kim Jong-seok, CEO of Kuum Partners, Park Sang-hyun, CEO of John & Mart, and Oh Jeong-hyun, deputy CEO of Synergy Tower, cited local identity and content as key competitive strengths for hot places. Oh Jeong-hyun, deputy CEO of Synergy Tower, said, "Commercial-district development is ultimately the work of creating reasons to gather people," adding, "Even a blighted area can grow into a new commercial district if it is equipped with the right content and brands."
Speakers on the day agreed that while AI is changing how consumers make choices, the essence of products that get chosen still lies in understanding consumers. Even in an era when AI recommends products, content becomes the store, and creators become salespeople, the questions corporations must answer remain the same. They diagnosed that corporations that design why consumers should choose a product and how that choice leads to certain experiences and identities will be able to create hit products in the AI era.