Shinsegae, KT ink partnership deal to digitized retail shopping

Shinsegae Inc. and KT Telecoms have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to digitize shopping, land development, and logistics. This is a three-way cooperation where they will work for the digital transformation of the said business units.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Shinsegae and KT Telecom agreed to team up in five divisions. Aside from the mentioned units, they will also cooperate in marketing and customer management.

The department store chain company is planning to make use of KT Telecom’s cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure to make the management of its fulfillment centers better. The company believes this will also be very helpful to its last-mile delivery services at its stores and E-Mart Traders outlets.

Shinsegae specially mentioned that it would use the technology that was created by Lolab, the digital logistics platform wing of the country’s telecom giant. This will be utilized to automate the process and steps in the company’s fulfillment hubs.

Lolab was only established last year, and it mainly provides AI-based logistics and delivery management services. In May this year, it launched an artificial intelligence-based freight brokering service as it is seeing the rapid growth of the logistics industry.

Korea Joongang Daily reported that Lolab is 80% owned by KT Telecom, and it will be mostly used for delivery orders on Emart stores and SSG.com. Shinsegae believes this will make the company’s delivery services more efficient.

At any rate, Shinsegae will also use the telecommunication network of KT and its other technologies which may include urban air mobility and autonomous driving systems in its new shopping complexes. E-Mart chain of convenience stores, which is owned by the Shinsegae Group, will also be digitalized through the technologies developed by KT.

"This partnership is aimed at facilitating a future-forward digital ecosystem that removes the boundary between online and offline," Kang Heui Seok, the chief executive officer of E-Mart, said in a statement.