Olive Young AI Kiosk Guide: How the New AI Shopping Assistant Helps Foreign Customers

CJ Olive Young’s new AI Shopping Assistant is a kiosk-based service designed to make Olive Young shopping easier for foreign customers in Korea. Introduced on July 8, 2026, the service uses a conversational AI avatar to help shoppers find product information, check stock, locate items in the store, and receive recommendations in multiple languages.¹

The key point for visitors is practical: the kiosk is meant to reduce the language barrier inside busy stores, especially larger multi-floor locations where product variety and store navigation can be difficult. It is not described as a replacement for staff, but as part of a broader AI-based store service that also includes interpretation support for customer consultations.²

What the Olive Young AI Shopping Assistant Does

The AI Shopping Assistant is built around a kiosk where customers can talk with an AI avatar in real time. For foreign shoppers, this matters because many common in-store questions are not only about product names, but also about how to compare items, whether something is available, and where it is physically placed in the store.

The service provides product explanations, stock lookup, store location guidance, and personalized product recommendations based on skin characteristics and preferences. These functions are available in eight languages, giving foreign customers a more direct way to search for beauty products without relying only on shelf labels or staff availability.²

For a shopper, the likely flow is simple. First, use the kiosk to ask about a product category, product detail, or personal preference. Then check whether a recommended or searched item is in stock. Finally, use the store-location guidance to find where the product is displayed. The source material does not provide a full screen-by-screen user manual, so the exact kiosk interface may vary by store, but the available functions are clearly centered on product search, recommendation, and navigation.

The kiosk also supports repeated practical questions through a touchscreen. Electronic Times reported that customers can check information such as payment methods and value-added tax refund details through the screen.³ That is useful for visitors who may already know what they want to buy but need quick confirmation about checkout or refund procedures before purchasing.

Where the AI Kiosk Is Being Introduced First

CJ Olive Young said the AI Shopping Assistant is being operated first mainly in multi-floor stores with a high share of foreign customers and strong demand for shopping information.¹ ESTsoft identified three initial stores: Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station branch, Apgujeong Jungang branch, and Ewha Womans University Jungang branch.⁴

That initial store list is important because customers should not assume every Olive Young location has the kiosk immediately. The available reports describe an initial rollout or pilot-style operation focused on stores where foreign shoppers are more likely to need detailed product and store guidance. Korea Economic Daily also described the service as being tested mainly in multi-floor stores with many foreign customers and high product-information demand.⁵

The technology behind the service is also specified. ESTsoft said the solution is based on its real-time conversational AI avatar service, Perso Interactive, and combines its AI recommendation engine AURA with Olive Young product data.⁴ In practical terms, this explains why the kiosk is being presented not just as a translation screen, but as a guided shopping assistant that can connect customer preferences with product information.

For store operators, the system also includes a data-based dashboard that can show information such as customer dwell time and major questions.³ For customers, the immediate benefit is more visible at the kiosk: faster answers to product and store questions. For Olive Young, the dashboard suggests the company is also using the service to better understand what foreign shoppers ask about inside stores.

AI Interpretation and In-Store Support

The AI Shopping Assistant is only one part of CJ Olive Young’s broader support for foreign customers. The company is also applying AI technology to interpretation services for staff consultations, starting with stores that have a high share of foreign customers. Yonhap reported that customers can use real-time chat through a QR code or speak through a store tablet microphone when receiving consultation support.²

The interpretation service builds on a portable translator introduced in 2024, with AI technology added and supported languages expanded to 38.³ This is separate from the kiosk’s eight-language shopping functions, so shoppers should understand the distinction: the kiosk helps with self-service product discovery and store information, while the interpretation support is intended for communication during consultations with staff.

Business Tribune described the AI-based store service as focused on lowering language barriers for foreign customers from product search through consultation and payment. It also noted that Olive Young had already introduced foreign-language guidance, global payment, instant tax refund service, and portable translators before adding this AI service.⁶

A CJ Olive Young representative said the company will continue to advance AI-based store services for global customers’ shopping convenience and expand them to stores nationwide.² ESTsoft CEO Jung Sang-won also said it was meaningful to help solve overseas customer-response issues and contribute to store performance.⁴

For foreign visitors, the most useful expectation is therefore measured rather than exaggerated. The new kiosk can help answer product, stock, location, and recommendation questions in supported languages at selected stores. For more complex questions, the AI interpretation service may help bridge communication with staff where it has been introduced.

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Patrick Choi

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