Amore Store offers cosmetics without the human interaction

Amore Store in Cheongyangni in eastern Seoul which opened Wednesday. Visitors can try out various products without actually putting makeup on using the augmented reality technology. [LOTTE DEPARTMENT STORE]

Lotte Department Store on Wednesday opened a new beauty store in collaboration with Amorepacific that offers a customer experience designed for the era of social distancing.

The store, in its Cheongyangni branch in eastern Seoul, is the latest example of "untact" shopping, a Korean term that uses the prefix "un" to create a new word meaning the opposite of contact.

The Amore Store, which the two companies have been working on for three years, offers 1,400 products from seven brands, including well-known labels like Sulwhasoo and Hera, as well as Vitalbeautie, which offers supplements like lactic acid bacteria.

The store is divided into sections based on skin type, colored cosmetics and new releases. Visitors can compare different products on the spot by scanning QR codes to access detailed information.

Customers can virtually try on cosmetics products using augmented reality makeup tests. The makeup is applied to a photo taken on a device at the store. Rather than shared tester products that customers can try out, individually-packaged samples are available to avoid cross-contamination.

An expert is still available to help explain products and offer advice as needed.

Lotte believes the opening of the new store is timely considering the sudden shift toward services that avoid human contact because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The primary target is millennials, which in recent years have grown into a generation with major purchasing power.

The idea for the store came from people’s reluctance to share test products.

“We have come to open the store after three years of preparation with Amorepacific to offer a new type of beauty store,” said Jung Soo-yeon, chief buyer at Lotte Department Store. “We hope to receive customer attention as it is a differentiated store that reflects the recent 'untact' trend following Covid-19.”

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]