SOUTH KOREA. The Shilla Duty Free has partnered with leading Korean portal company Naver to aid the digital transition of hotel and duty free business through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technology. On 8 September, the agreement was formalised at Naver’s 1784 building in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do.
The Shilla Duty Free’s strategic business partnership aims to expand online and offline customer benefits through membership collaboration and enhancement of convenience for hotel and duty free service users.
Naver has an impressive market share in Korea’s internet landscape and it champions the nation’s top portal services and develops shopping, advertising and digital payments businesses.
Additionally, Naver is expanding its footprint by offering diverse information technology (IT) infrastructure including AI and cloud services. Naver registers a daily unique visitor count of 35 million – a testament to its influence.
Under this agreement, The Shilla Duty Free is set to fortify the integrative benefits for both The Shilla Duty Free Shop online and Naver Plus members. Effective from 18 September, Naver Plus members will secure an 8% return on the purchase amount as Naver Pay points on The Shilla Duty Free Shop online purchases.
To enhance payment convenience, The Shilla Duty Free will integrate Naver Pay across its hotel and duty free touchpoints, both online and offline.
The collaboration also heralds the debut of The Shilla Duty Free’s premium products on Naver Shopping. This move ensures travellers can easily access and purchase The Shilla Duty Free offerings within the Naver Shopping ecosystem.
Last August at the DAN 23 conference, Naver had unveiled its generative AI ‘Hyper CLOVA X’ alongside the conversational AI service ‘CLOVA X’ and search tool ‘CUE:’.
The Shilla Duty Free plans to innovate its hotel and duty free service business by using Naver’s generative AI and cloud technology. This technology agreement aims to facilitate convenience for The Shilla Duty Free customers and provide personalised services using customer data.
Hotel Shilla Head of Travel Retail Division Kim Tae-ho remarked: “Our collaboration with Naver, especially utilising its AI prowess, will broaden our business horizons. We will continue our relentless pursuit of digital transformation, anchored in customer convenience and benefits.”
Naver Head of Business Development Center Han Jae-young said: “This strategic alignment with Hotel Shilla amplifies the membership experience by fusing distinctive benefits across diverse verticals like membership, travel, payment and shopping.
“Beyond user experience, this partnership leverages Naver’s distinctive technology to elevate the digital competitiveness of our partners, fostering an unparalleled business synergy for both entities.” ✈
