ESTsoft said on Tuesday it will launch a kiosk-style AI shopping assistant with CJ Olive Young. The companies will first introduce it at three stores that draw many foreign visitors: Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station, Apgujeong Central and Ewha Central.

The AI shopping assistant is a retail-focused solution based on ESTsoft’s real-time conversational AI avatar service, Perso Interactive. It is optimised for the K-beauty market.

The AI shopping assistant targets foreign customers in their 20s and 30s. An AI avatar in the kiosk responds in real time to support shopping without language barriers. It also collects and analyses on-site data for use in improving store operating efficiency.

Key functions include AI avatar support in eight languages, AI personalised recommendations reflecting K-beauty characteristics, multilingual product information based on barcode scanning, automated responses to tax refund and store-use inquiries, and an operations dashboard based on customer behaviour data.

In a survey of Olive Young store employees, 69.4 percent said they face language barriers. Another 54.8 percent said interpretation is needed. ESTsoft explained it developed multilingual support functions first to reflect these on-site needs.

The AI personalised recommendation function combines ESTsoft’s in-house AI recommendation engine, AURA, with Olive Young product data. It recommends products tailored to skin concerns, preferred textures and intended use.

Jung Sang-won (정상원), chief executive of ESTsoft, said, "With ESTsoft AI technology, we have resolved the issue of serving overseas customers at global retail stores and also contributed to improving store performance." He added, "We will advance the service in cooperation with Olive Young to provide an improved K-beauty shopping experience to customers around the world."