THE WHAT? Shilla Duty Free has teamed up with The Estee Lauder Companies to launch a video-based online consultation service, which it is claiming is the first of its kind in the travel retail sphere, according to a report published by DFNI Frontier.

THE DETAILS LaViewON, as the non face-to-face consultation service is called, comprises FaceOn, a video consultation, and ChatON, which is chat-based. Shilla Internet Duty Free members will be able to consult Shilla Duty Free offline store employees on product choice as well as make purchases during the consultation.

THE WHY? The service is designed to mimic the in-store experience for online shoppers. Shilla Duty Free Managing Director and leader of its e-commerce team, Kim Bo-yeon told DFNI Frontier, “The LaViewON service has been designed with a focus enhancing the consumer experience in online and providing more services and capabilities that were previously limited to the offline purchase experience. Going forward, we will continue to introduce differentiated services enhancing the user experience thereby leading the online duty-free shopping market.”