Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Leads 'Smartification' of Local Markets in Preparation for Digital Transformation

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim Samho) is accelerating the ‘smartification’ of neighborhood commercial districts in preparation for digital transformation.

According to Gwangsan-gu on the 26th, smart store construction has been completed for 113 stores in two commercial districts, Suwannadeulmok Shopping District and Eoryong-dong Shopping District, which were selected in the Small and Medium Venture Business Department’s contest this year.

The Small and Medium Business Administration is promoting the ‘Smart Store Technology Distribution’ project to strengthen self-sustainability by supplying equipment that applies smart technologies related to the 4th Industrial Revolution such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Internet of Things (IoT) to small business stores designated as smart pilot stores.

Last year, Gwangsan-gu was selected for the first time in the Gwangju area and built smart stores targeting 89 stores in Seonun District Shopping District and Hanam 2 District Shopping District.

This year, it was selected for the contest for the second consecutive year, securing a project budget of 1.097 billion KRW, and applied smart technologies to 113 stores in Suwannadeulmok Shopping District and Eoryong-dong Shopping District.

In two years, 202 smart stores have been created in four locations.

In the two commercial districts where the project was promoted this year, the following were introduced: ▲‘Serving robots’ that deliver products to customers on behalf of people ▲‘Smart mirrors’ that allow virtual styling and fitting experiences before purchase ▲‘Digital menu boards’ that guide menus and promote new products using smart devices ▲Touch-type unmanned payment terminals ‘kiosks’ ▲Smart order systems that enable reservation, ordering, and payment via mobile devices.

Along with this, Gwangsan-gu plans to install ‘digital signage’ that can comprehensively guide store locations, handled products, and local attractions within the shopping districts.

Song Sunho, president of the Suwannadeulmok Shopping District Merchants Association, said, “The serving robots deliver food to customers safely and reduce the burden,” adding, “Kiosks, advertising boards, and 3D holograms also attract customers’ attention and greatly help store operations.”

Kim Samho, mayor of Gwangsan-gu, stated, “Smart commercial districts, which are a collection of non-face-to-face and digital technologies, can be a solution for neighborhood commercial districts to actively overcome the crisis in the With-Corona era,” and added, “I ask everyone to use the safer and smarter Gwangsan-gu neighborhood commercial districts a lot.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.