Lotte Home Shopping Introduces AI-Based Korean IBM Weather Forecasting System

Lotte Homeshopping held a business agreement on the introduction of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based weather forecasting system with Korea IBM at its headquarters in Yangpyeong-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 10th. Photo by Kim Choong-kyung, Head of Big Data Team at Lotte Homeshopping, Kim Jong-young, Head of Marketing Division at Lotte Homeshopping, Park Song-mi, Executive Director of Cognitive Applications Division at Korea IBM, and Seo In-beom, Director at Korea IBM (from left).

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Lotte Homeshopping announced on the 12th that it held a business agreement with IBM Korea on the 10th at its headquarters in Yangpyeong-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, regarding the introduction of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based weather forecasting system.

The signing ceremony was held with the attendance of related personnel, including Kim Jong-young, Head of Marketing Division at Lotte Homeshopping, and Park Song-mi, Executive Director of the Cognitive Applications Division at IBM Korea.

Going forward, the two companies agreed to collaborate on ▲providing daily weather forecast information for more than six months ▲implementing a product demand forecasting model based on weather conditions. Lotte Homeshopping will utilize AI-based weather analysis information from IBM Korea for product planning, scheduling, and marketing. They also plan to derive the relationship between weather conditions and product demand fluctuations and apply it to the currently operating ‘Smart AI Scheduling System.’ The plan is to design timely products and reflect them in scheduling based on weather indicators directly linked to home shopping sales.

This is also part of the ‘Digital Transformation (DT)’ initiative to drive innovation using digital technology. Lotte Homeshopping has previously applied a ‘Robotic Process Automation (RPA)’ system for product inspection, personal information identification in internal documents, and voucher processing tasks. They have also introduced the Smart AI Scheduling System to predict product sales by time slot and automatically combine optimal scheduling.

Kim Jong-young, Head of Marketing Division at Lotte Homeshopping, said, “Since weather plays an important role in product sales and scheduling in TV home shopping, we decided to sign an agreement with IBM Korea, believing that accurate weather forecasts based on precise indicators will help in mid- to long-term planning.” He added, “We will quickly respond to demand changes caused by abnormal climate or sudden seasonal shifts, improving not only work efficiency but also customer satisfaction.”