Naver (035420.KS), South Korea's largest internet platform, has revamped the home screen of its shopping application to make its artificial intelligence (AI) shopping agent more easily accessible.
Naver updated its shopping app "Naver Plus Store" on the previous day, placing the AI shopping agent icon permanently at the top of the home screen search bar, the company said Wednesday. The AI shopping agent is a service that provides product recommendations and purchasing tips through an AI agent when users search for shopping keywords. The company revamped the feature to improve user convenience since its launch in February.
Previously, users had to enter a separate search query and then tap the "Chat with AI" function. Now they can access the AI agent directly from the home screen. Naver also added a "History" function within the AI shopping agent that allows users to save their conversation records.
Naver plans to introduce a feature in the first half of the year that enables the AI agent to proactively suggest products by analyzing user characteristics. For example, if a user recently got married, the AI agent would recommend home appliances frequently purchased by newlyweds based on the user's search and purchase history and conversation context. "We are seeing meaningful changes, including longer dwell times and higher click-through rates on recommended products among users who shop through the agent," a Naver official said. "We will continue to steadily improve the features going forward."
As personalized information grows in importance, Naver is restructuring its services around AI agents. Starting with the shopping agent, the company plans to roll out vertical AI agents across services including local (maps and places), finance, and health. Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said at last month's shareholders' meeting, "We will fully deploy AI agents across all Naver services this year. We will build a seamless service flow that understands user intent and completes optimal execution without interruption."