As competition among global tech companies over AI shopping intensifies, South Korean e-commerce firms are also stepping up their moves.

OpenAI recently added shopping functions to Operator, a general-purpose AI agent based on ChatGPT. It goes beyond simple product searches to handle the entire purchase process, including clicking on websites and entering delivery addresses. It also unveiled an AI-only payment standard called the Agentic Commerce Protocol, and is speeding up efforts to build a standardised payment ecosystem with Shopify and Walmart.

Google has built a shopping agent within its Gemini AI model that also covers payment. The focus is on handling the entire process from product search to ordering without leaving external apps.

Amazon introduced an Auto-Buy function through its shopping assistant Rufus that automatically confirms a purchase when a set price is reached.

South Korean companies also see rising traffic driven by generative AI and are accelerating efforts to combine AI with shopping.

SSG.com saw inflows via generative AI rise about 2,700 percent in the fourth quarter last year from a year earlier. The company said W Concept, a designer fashion platform operated by Shinsegae Group, posted a 1,300 percent rise in traffic inflows via generative AI in the fourth quarter from a year earlier.

The trend is being analysed as a shift in consumer behaviour, with shoppers beginning to start purchases by talking to AI instead of using search bars. A retail industry official said, "As the number of users of generative AI services increases, inflows to platforms through them are also analysed to be rising rapidly."

South Korean companies are also expanding investment in data structuring so global AI agents can accurately read and interpret their product information. It is part of efforts to optimise recommendations by AI.

Attention is also focusing on a reshaping of the e-commerce competitive landscape as shopping led by AI agents spreads. Some forecasts say the dominance of large platforms could be shaken if they cede the front-end of shopping to AI agents. An e-commerce industry official said, "Having AI take the front end is both a crisis and an opportunity. The key is raising the chances of being selected by agents through data optimisation." The official added, "As the monopoly power of giant platforms weakens, core commerce values such as logistics and product competitiveness will become even more important."