The ‘Smart Grocery Map’ app, which provides price information on fresh agricultural and livestock products at nearby stores based on the consumer’s location, launched a pilot service in five regions on the 21st. The burden of grocery shopping, which once required legwork from store to store, can now be eased with a single app.
 [코리안투데이] Ceremony marking the pilot launch of the ‘Smart Grocery Map’ app © 장형임 기자 |
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Minister Song Mi-ryung) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bae Kyung-hoon) announced that they held a ceremony on September 21 at OSCO in Cheongju to mark the pilot launch of the ‘Smart Grocery Map’ app.
The pilot launch covers five regions: Suwon in Gyeonggi Province, Wonju in Gangwon Province, Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province, Jeonju in North Jeolla Province, and Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province. The ceremony was attended by related government ministries and participating retailers, as well as organizations such as the Korea Mart Association and the Consumer Organizations Council. The event also marked the launch of an agricultural and livestock product price-information council, made up of the Agriculture Ministry, the app developer, participating retailers, the Korea Mart Association, and the Consumer Organizations Council.
The ‘Smart Grocery Map’ is a service that lets consumers easily check and compare the prices of fresh agricultural and livestock products at nearby sellers. Beyond prices by store, it also provides on-the-ground information such as discount-event details, along with recipes and recommended stores linked to artificial-intelligence conversation (AI chat). It is expected to significantly reduce the inconvenience consumers once faced in having to visit multiple stores in person to find the cheapest seller.
The app was developed as part of the Science Ministry’s ‘Top 10 AI Public-Livelihood Projects.’ The initiative aims to spread the benefits of AI innovation by swiftly introducing services that let citizens experience AI in daily life, focusing on areas where public benefit is high; the ‘Smart Grocery Map’ is its first tangible outcome.
After the ceremony, participants visited the Osong branch of Asan Mart in Cheongju to hold a promotional event encouraging consumers to download the app. They also held an event comparing the price information provided by the app with the actual in-store prices of agricultural and livestock products to verify the accuracy of the information.
Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryung said, ‘We expect that this pilot launch of the Smart Grocery Map app will greatly reduce the inconvenience consumers have faced, such as visiting stores in person to learn prices at nearby sellers,’ adding, ‘For the nationwide rollout in the second half of next year, we will do our best to supplement functions that enhance consumer convenience as much as possible during this pilot period, so that the Smart Grocery Map can firmly establish itself as the nation’s representative grocery-shopping assistant.’
Lee Do-gyu, head of the Information and Communication Policy Office at the Science Ministry, said, ‘The launch of the Smart Grocery Map is the first step of the Top 10 AI Public-Livelihood Projects, and it is a meaningful case in which AI creates practical value in areas close to citizens’ daily lives.’ He added, ‘Going forward, we will work closely with the Agriculture Ministry and other related ministries and the private sector to discover and spread AI services that citizens can actually experience, and to actively support ensuring that the benefits of AI technology bring real help to people’s lives.’
The government plans to supplement the app’s functions by reflecting user feedback during this pilot operation period, and then pursue a nationwide rollout in the second half of next year.
지역 홍보대사 신청 기자양성과정 신청 코리안투데이 지부장 신청 코리안투데이 인천강화코리안브랜드대상 신청 최고경영인대상 신청 소비자만족도대상 신청
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