Lotte Duty Free has made travel retail history in Asia Pacific by becoming the first duty free operator in South Korea — and among the first globally — to launch a fully integrated shopping service powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The new platform enables customers to search for products, browse bestsellers, receive personalised recommendations and access promotional offers entirely through natural language conversation within ChatGPT — with no need to download a dedicated application or navigate to a separate website.
The launch positions Lotte Duty Free at the forefront of a rapidly emerging frontier in retail commerce: conversational AI shopping. Rather than forcing consumers through a traditional product-discovery funnel — search bar to category page to product listing — the ChatGPT integration allows shoppers to interact with the duty free store as they would with a knowledgeable human shopping assistant, in whatever language and whatever framing feels natural to them. It is a fundamental rethinking of the duty free retail experience for the digital-native traveller.
How the Service Works: One Plugin, Zero Friction
The mechanics are deliberately simple. To access the service, a customer selects the Lotte Duty Free plugin within the ChatGPT interface and begins a conversation. From that point, the interaction is entirely natural language-driven: customers can ask questions such as “What are today’s bestselling skincare products?” or “Show me promotional offers on luxury perfumes” or “Recommend a gift for a 40-year-old who likes whisky” — and receive curated, contextual responses directly within the chat window.
Critically, the service requires no separate app download and no website visit. For international travellers already using ChatGPT — an increasingly broad demographic — the duty free shopping experience is integrated directly into a tool they already have open. This eliminates one of the most persistent friction points in travel retail digital commerce: getting customers to discover, download and use a retailer-specific application before or during their airport journey.
“Conversational shopping experiences powered by generative AI are becoming a new commerce trend. Through our ChatGPT-based shopping service, we will make duty-free shopping easier and more convenient for customers while providing differentiated purchasing experiences tailored to each customer’s situation and needs.”
Kim Yu-yeon, Head of E-Commerce, Lotte Duty FreeThree Steps to Conversational Duty Free Shopping
Select the Plugin
Open ChatGPT and select the Lotte Duty Free plugin from the Apps menu — no download, no account creation, no separate website.
Ask in Natural Language
Type your shopping query as you would to a friend — “What’s trending in K-beauty?” or “Best whisky under ₩100,000?” — in any language.
Discover & Shop
Receive personalised product recommendations, bestsellers, promotions and purchase links — all within the same conversation window.
