South Korea’s E-Mart Inc., big-box store chain under the country’s retail conglomerate Shinsegae Group, is working to ready a fleet of robotic shopping carts that will slide along customers on their own and aid them in shopping within the next three years.

A sneak peep on the prototype dubbed “Eli” was released by Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin on Thursday on his SNS page.

Robotic carts are being pursued by other multinational retailers like Walmart.

“We are devising various innovative features. We will proceed with the project step by step after multiple trial runs. Full deployment could be ready in three years` time,” he said during a job fair in Seoul.

The self-driving cart is expected to trot alongside the shopper and help in locating the items, advise in shopping and saving tips, and carry the shopping load to the parking lot before returning to the store on its own.

The concept cart being developed by a team of elite brain power and engineers dubbed E-mart S Lab will be disclosed in a month and then deployed first in E-Mart Traders in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province.

By Lee Yoo-jin and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]