GS Retail is accelerating its transition to artificial intelligence (AI) in the retail sector, achieving a 3.9-fold increase in product search visibility.
On November 10, GS Retail held a performance sharing event for the fourth phase of 'The GS Challenge Future Retail' at GS Tower in Gangnam, Seoul, where it announced the results of its collaboration with five AI startups.
The project, which began in July and lasted approximately four months, was attended by key executives, including GS Retail CEO Heo Seo-hong, and representatives from the startups.
One of the most notable achievements of this project is the AI search optimization for GS Shop. In collaboration with the startup 'SearchOSAI,' GS Shop implemented Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) technology to enhance product visibility in a generative AI search environment.
The team organized around 100,000 product information entries for AI search and created over 2,000 pieces of content describing product features. As a result, product search visibility increased by 3.8 times and 3.9 times in two separate tests.
In September, GS Shop introduced an 'AI Shopping Assistant' in its mobile app. This service recommends related products and provides review summaries and ingredient and price comparisons, even if customers do not know the exact product name and use everyday expressions to search.
GS Shop is simultaneously advancing AI-driven product exploration features and expanding external AI search visibility.
At GS25 convenience stores, AI is being utilized for store operations. GS25 has established a vision AI-based customer behavior analysis system in four stores, in collaboration with the startup 'MayAI,' to enhance fresh food sales.
This system analyzes visitor numbers and time spent at displays, linking this data with point-of-sale (POS) information to identify purchasing patterns. The accuracy of key evaluation metrics has been reported at over 90%. GS25 plans to use the analysis results to improve product assortment and store operations.
AI will also be integrated into new product planning. GS Retail is collaborating with the startup 'BuildUpLabs' to develop a system that analyzes mentions of popular food items and desserts on social media, tracking trends and their longevity.
This technology assists product planners (MDs) in identifying products with high trend potential early on. GS Retail is also adding features for analysis by social media channel, discovering popular intellectual properties (IPs), and analyzing competitor product responses.
In this program, GS Retail first surveyed the on-site needs of 17 business divisions before selecting suitable startups for the challenges identified. From 2023 to last year, approximately 320 startups were reviewed, and 18 companies were selected to pursue various projects, including order and logistics optimization and content production automation.
Lee Seong-hwa, head of GS Retail's New Growth Division, stated, "The fourth phase of Future Retail confirmed the applicability of AI technology through collaboration with startups focused on real-world business challenges. We will continue to actively utilize the excellent technologies of startups to enhance customer experience and strengthen on-site AI transformation (AX) that leads to tangible business results."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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