South Korea’s tech giants, Naver and Kakao, are poised to revolutionize online shopping with the integration of AI-powered shopping assistants directly into their popular platforms. Soon, South Korean users can expect to fulfill their shopping needs through simple conversations, eliminating the need to navigate multiple apps for price comparisons and purchases.
Both companies recently unveiled their launch plans during their respective earnings calls, setting the stage for a competitive rollout of these innovative AI shopping solutions.
Naver took the lead, with CEO Choi Soo-yeon announcing on February 6th that their AI shopping agent had entered closed-beta testing and was slated for a public release in late February. The AI agent is designed to understand natural language requests, scour e-commerce platforms for matching products, and even complete the checkout process. Imagine asking for a body lotion that’s larger and lighter than your previous purchase – Naver’s AI agent will find suitable options and handle the entire transaction. Choi also mentioned plans to introduce AI agents for travel and financial services later in the year, all accessible through a dedicated “AI Tab” on Naver’s homepage and app, expected in the first half of 2026.
Kakao is adopting a different strategy, embedding its AI agent, “Kanana in KakaoTalk,” directly into its widely used messaging app. This allows Kanana to understand conversation context and offer proactive recommendations. For example, if a friend’s birthday is mentioned in a group chat, Kanana can suggest gifts from KakaoTalk’s integrated gifting marketplace.
Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a confirmed on February 12th that Kanana, previously in an iOS-only beta, will be launching on both iOS and Android platforms this quarter. The initial beta testing showed promising results, with over 80% of invited testers downloading the required AI model and approximately 70% continuing to use the service regularly. As of March 9th, Kakao has integrated its existing AI shopping feature into Kanana in KakaoTalk, consolidating its AI services under a unified brand.
Currently, Kanana’s functionality is limited to iPhone 15 Pro or newer devices due to its reliance on local, on-device AI processing. Android support is expected to be available upon full launch.
These Korean platforms are joining a global trend already gaining momentum. OpenAI introduced “Instant Checkout” in ChatGPT last September, enabling US users to make purchases from Etsy and Shopify merchants without leaving the chatbot. Similarly, Google announced its Universal Commerce Protocol in January, developed in collaboration with Walmart, Target, and Shopify, to facilitate AI-driven purchases across its search and Gemini platforms.
The appeal of AI-powered shopping assistants is undeniable, with shopping identified as a key entry point. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted last year that customers who used Rufus, their shopping AI, were 60% more likely to complete a purchase compared to those who did not, highlighting the significant impact of AI on conversion rates.
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