SEOUL, South Korea – Lotte Mart, a major South Korean retailer, has officially launched its dedicated online grocery shopping application, 'Lotte Mart Zeta,' signaling a significant move towards leveraging artificial intelligence to personalize the consumer shopping experience. The company announced the release on Thursday, highlighting its innovative 'Smart Cart' feature powered by AI.

This launch marks the first tangible result of Lotte Mart's strategic partnership with UK-based Ocado Group, a leading global retail technology firm. The collaboration, initiated in November 2022, aimed to establish Ocado's Smart Platform (OSP) within Lotte's operations, encompassing the entire online grocery journey from order placement to last-mile delivery.

The flagship feature of the 'Lotte Mart Zeta' app is its intelligent 'Smart Cart.' Going beyond conventional recommendation engines, this AI-driven system analyzes a customer's comprehensive purchase history, individual consumption patterns, and the frequency of their shopping trips. Within a mere ten seconds, the app can automatically populate a virtual shopping cart with items highly likely to align with the user's preferences, streamlining the often time-consuming process of online grocery selection.

Furthermore, 'Lotte Mart Zeta' incorporates a practical feature designed to enhance convenience and ensure product availability. When customers select their preferred delivery time slot, the app intelligently analyzes real-time inventory levels across Lotte Mart's store network, coupled with historical sales trends for specific items. This allows the app to display only those products that are confirmed to be available for purchase and delivery within the chosen timeframe, minimizing the frustration of encountering out-of-stock items.

Industry analysts view the launch of 'Lotte Mart Zeta' as a crucial step for Lotte Mart in the increasingly competitive online grocery market. The integration of Ocado's advanced technology platform positions Lotte Mart to potentially offer a more efficient and customer-centric online shopping experience.

"This launch demonstrates Lotte Mart's commitment to innovation and understanding the evolving needs of consumers," commented a retail industry expert. "The personalized 'Smart Cart' and real-time availability features address key pain points in online grocery shopping and could set a new standard in the South Korean market."

While Lotte Mart has not yet disclosed specific details regarding the rollout plan for the OSP across its wider online operations, the launch of 'Lotte Mart Zeta' suggests a phased implementation, with the dedicated grocery app serving as the initial platform to showcase the capabilities of the Ocado technology. Consumers in South Korea will be keenly watching how this AI-powered approach transforms their online grocery shopping habits.