CJ Olive Young rolls out AI kiosks to help foreign shoppers navigate stores

CJ Olive Young, Korea's largest health and beauty retail chain, said Wednesday it is introducing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered services in its stores to make shopping easier for international customers, as demand for K-beauty products continues to grow. The company is first rolling out its "AI Shopping Assistant" at multi-story flagship stores with high foreign customer traffic and strong demand for product information. Through a kiosk, customers can hold a real-time conversation in eight different languages through an AI avatar, avoiding the need for staff assistance. The kiosk provides product descriptions, inventory checks, in-store navigation and personalized recommendations based on skin type and preferences. The company said the kiosks are also meant to improve store efficiency by letting staff focus on specialized consultations, since simple or frequently asked questions about things like payment methods or value-added tax refunds can be answered on the touch screen. The kiosks also provide store managers with a dashboard showing information like how long customers spend lo