Renewed 'Bottle Bunker App' Launches on the 12th
Interactive AI Features Added... Personalized Wine Curation
Pickup Reservation and Wine Chilling Services Now Available
Lotte Mart announced on the 11th that its wine shop 'Bottle Bunker' will launch the upgraded 'Bottle Bunker App' on the 12th, featuring new artificial intelligence (AI)-based wine and whisky curation functions.
The screen of 'Bottle Bunker 2.0 App' launched on the 12th by Lotte Mart Wine Shop 'Bottle Bunker'. Photo by Lotte Mart
The revamped Bottle Bunker App is the result of six months of collaboration between the Lotte Mart Bottle Bunker team, the Lotte Mart AI Task Force, and the Lotte LaiLAC (Lotte AI Lab Alliance & Creators) Center.
Bottle Bunker and the LaiLAC Center built their AI-based services using 'Gemini,' one of Google's large language models (LLMs). LLMs are artificial intelligence technologies that learn from massive amounts of data to understand human language and generate natural sentences.
First, the app introduces a new 'AI Sommelier' feature. The AI Sommelier is a conversational AI service that recommends suitable wines in real time by considering the TPO (Time, Place, Occasion) specified by the customer. Inquiries can be made not only through text, but also via voice messages or by attaching wine label images. The service can even recognize wine labels that are not imported into Korea and provide product information.
The app also enhances convenience with a 'pickup reservation' function within the AI Sommelier. After receiving a wine recommendation from the AI Sommelier, customers can select their desired wine in the app, specify the store and pickup time, and then collect the wine directly from the selected store. For pickup reservation users, a 'wine chilling service' is offered, storing wine or sparkling wine at an optimal temperature for drinking.
A new 'Bottle Log' feature has also been added to help customers manage their wine and whisky purchase history. Through the Bottle Log, customers can save previously purchased or searched alcoholic beverages for easy repurchasing. They can also leave reviews on the taste and body of purchased wines in the Bottle Log, which can serve as useful references for future purchases of the same wine.
Additionally, the app improves offline shopping convenience by providing information on store-specific inventory and in-store product locations during product searches. Through 'tasting notes' written directly by professional sommeliers and Bottle Bunker merchandisers, customers can enjoy a vivid shopping experience as if receiving wine explanations in person.
Meanwhile, Lotte Distribution HQ established the 'LaiLAC Center' in November 2023 and has been operating it since then. The purpose is to enable Lotte Group to effectively apply AI technologies to the distribution industry. The center integrates the planning and management of AI projects across Lotte's distribution affiliates. It is also promoting specialized AI services tailored to the distribution industry, such as introducing AI services by affiliate and developing a 'smart pricing system' based on price trend analysis.
Park Hyejin, head of the Bottle Bunker team, stated, "With the launch of this renewed app, consumers can now purchase wine more easily and intuitively. By strengthening our alcoholic beverage service competitiveness through the AI-based Bottle Bunker app and personalized sommelier features, and by continuing to update the app, we aim to establish Bottle Bunker as the number one destination that comes to mind for wine shopping."
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