LG Uplus, Sodomall team up to develop AI solutions for small businesses
LG Uplus Enterprise Customer Group head Lim Jang-hyuk, left, poses with Sodomall CEO Seo Deok-ho during the two companies' partnership agreement ceremony at the LG Uplus headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of LG Uplus
Korean telecommunications and technology services provider LG Uplus said Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Sodomall, a wholesale and retail distribution platform, to jointly develop artificial intelligence (AI) transformation (AX) solutions tailored to small business owners.
Sodomall operates an online-and-offline distribution network that supplies groceries and daily necessities at wholesale prices through nationwide group-buying stores. Under the partnership, the two companies will work together on AI and telecom solutions for in-store use, help small merchants expand their sales channels and identify new business opportunities to revitalize local commercial districts.
LG Uplus plans to combine its own telecom and AI infrastructure with Sodomall's online and offline distribution data to help individual merchants forecast product demand. Specifically, the companies will pilot a solution that merges the commercial district analysis feature of LG Uplus' Uri Gage Package — a communications and AI solution built for small businesses — with Sodomall's regional sales and group-purchase data, to identify which product categories are likely to see rising demand in a given area or season. The goal is to help small business owners plan inventory and logistics more efficiently and sharpen their product competitiveness.
The companies also plan to jointly develop AI tools that will make it easier for small merchants to use AI in daily operations — applying LG Uplus' AI and data-based services to customer service and store management, while Sodomall contributes its know-how from running a distribution and group-buying platform to help apply the tools in the field.
LG Uplus Enterprise Customer Group head Lim Jang-hyuk said the company would keep expanding cooperation to boost small business owners' competitiveness through AI and telecom technology while reducing their management burden.
Sodomall CEO Seo Deok-ho, meanwhile, called the agreement a meaningful starting point for helping small merchants put AI and data to practical use in running their businesses.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.