Hyundai Dept. Store Duty Free to launch metaverse duty-free shop

South Korea's Hyundai Department Store Duty Free announced on Thursday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with OlimPlanet for the metaverse platform business.

The signing ceremony took place on March 9 at OlimPlanet headquarters in Parnas Tower in Seoul's Gangnam.

Under the terms of the agreement, the duty-free shop operator intends to develop a metaverse duty-free shop using OlimPlanet's metaverse platform, "Elypecs." This will allow customers to experience shopping as if they were actually viewing products in the virtual space implemented in the online duty-free shop.

Hyundai Department Store Duty Free plans to introduce a metaverse hall within the online duty-free shop before the end of the year.

"We are actively introducing various digital contents such as NFT and metaverse to provide customers with a unique experience and services," said Yook Woo-seok of Hyundai Department Store Duty Free.

"We will continue to lead innovation in the digital service sector in the duty-free shop industry in line with the trend of establishing a smart duty-free service promoted by the Incheon International Airport Corporation," he added.

Write to Jong-Kwan Park at pjk@hankyung.com