South Korea’s retail giant Hyundai Department Store Group said it will work with the world’s largest retailer Amazon to create customized futuristic retail services for Koreans including digital checkout and drone-based delivery.

Hyundai Department Store announced Monday that it signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Service (AWS), the world’s leading cloud service provider under Amazon, at the headquarters of AWS Korea in central Seoul to cooperate in developing retail technologies.

Under the agreement, the two parties will join hands in building retail stores fitted with cutting-edge technology, establishing a customer analysis system and strengthening partnership with Hyundai IT&E, the IT service unit of Hyundai Department Store.

The two companies will conduct a joint research and development of a cashier-free grocery store in Korea by adopting Just Walk Out technology of Amazon Go, the world’s first cashierless grocery store equipped with hundreds of cameras and sensors to allow customers to skip the checkout line. They will also collaborate in developing food and beverage delivery service using drones and establishing an automated information system using Amazon’s artificial intelligence technology.

“We will apply the next-generation retail technology co-developed with Amazon to Hyundai Department Store Yeouido scheduled to open in the second half of 2020,” an official from Hyundai Department Store said.

The two firms also plan to set up a customer analysis system based on Amazon’s cloud system. Hyundai IT&E and Amazon will team up to create an operating system for a large-scale virtual reality (VR) theme park that Hyundai Department Store Group aims to open within this year.

Their cooperation will be further extended to develop VR content by using Amazon Sumerian, a toolkit and platform for augmented reality (AR) or VR apps.

On Monday, Hyundai Department Store shares fell 0.42 percent and ended at 95,600 won ($85.09).

By Lee Han-na and Choi Mira

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