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Lotte rolls out AI group-wide as part of global ambitions

Published: 31 Oct. 2024, 10:48

Lotte has ventured expansively into AI as part of its preparations for the future in its shift to new businesses, such as biotech and the metaverse, to continue sustainable growth.

Lotte Innovate introduced “Aimember 2.0,” the enhanced version of its AI platform launched earlier this year, with a better user interface and experience and an improved AI chatbot, Lotte GPT, which was upgraded to Llama 3 and utilizes opensource models for improved accuracy.

Daehong Communications released an all-in-one AI Marketing System (AIMS) in July, which was implemented groupwide. Through AI, big data and cloud technology, AIMS conducts research, data analysis, ad creation and more on a single platform.

The group’s retail sector, meanwhile, is using Aimember to enhance customer service through improved efficiency, while Lotte Department Store is tapping AI to create visuals for its wedding services. April saw the unveiling of an AI translation service for English, Chinese, Japanese and 10 other languages at the Jamsil branch, a first in the country.

Lotte Mart and Lotte Super, the supermarket and hypermarket businesses, introduced an “AI Selection System” this year to screen fruit using deep learning to assess quality. Its capabilities were on display in July with AI-assessed “crunchy” peaches.

Lotte is also foraying into Africa with the “Sustainable Cacao Bean Project” in Ghana on Oct. 10, aiming to improve working conditions on cacao farms for sustainable production of the main ingredient in chocolate. After the country — the second largest cacao producer — suffered crop losses on intense heatwaves and disease, Lotte delivered 130,000 cacao tree saplings.

Strategizing with Lotte Japan, the group envisions Pepero snacks as a 1 trillion won ($724 million) brand, with India as the jumping-off country through an investment of 33 billion won to set up a manufacturing unit in Haryana.

Lotte’s franchise subsidiary, GRS, is also going abroad with the establishment of LotteGRS USA, its second overseas branch, aiming to open a Lotteria in the country by 2025. It has already opened 252 locations in Vietnam.

The Southeast Asian country offers retail growth as well, with the Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi amassing 200 billion won in sales in just five months after opening last September and attracting 10 million visitors a year. The success has assured Lotte that expansion with more malls is the right direction.

An overview of the Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi in Vietnam [LOTTE GROUP]

Lotte Biologics broke ground for its Songdo Bio Campus Plant 1 in Incheon, one of three “megaplants” in the city by 2030 that will contribute to an antibody drug production capacity of 360,000 liters (95,100 gallons), with the subsidiary committing to investing 4.6 trillion won.

Lotte Innovate and subsidiary Evsis dove into the U.S. future mobility market with preparations for EV charging infrastructure production. Back home, it completed a smart factory in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, that can build 200,000 EV charging stations, with plans to collaborate with other Lotte entities on installation at the likes of hotels and retail locations.

Lotte subsidiary Evsis’ smart factory in Cheongju, North Chungcheong. [LOTTE GROUP]

Lotte is also in the metaverse via subsidiary Caliverse, which fuses hyper-realistic visuals with unique interactive technology as unveiled at CES 2024. The metaverse allows users to shop in various retail environments, from 7-Eleven to Lotte Himart and even Lotte Duty Free, and can create their own content to share with other users.

BY KIM YEONSOO [[email protected]]

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