The service, named AI Nutritional Supplement Consultation, also incorporates pharmacist consultation for users with special concerns.
This implementation is noteworthy because it marks the establishment of an in-house AI consultation system by a local independent pharmacy, rather than a major chain or healthcare platform.
“Since the answer to nutritional supplement concerns varies depending on lifestyle habits and medications taken, we designed a system where consumers can address their concerns with the AI even after the pharmacy is closed and send details via KakaoTalk for a pharmacist to review,” Gwangju Pharmacy said.
Users can input their questions and lifestyle habits, such as sleep, diet and exercise, into the AI system—accessible anytime of the day—after which the platform would select one to three health supplements from 265 products across eight brands, and provide reasons for the recommendations.
For each recommended product, the functional claims recognized by South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) are displayed as they are.
If the user is pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking other medications, the system connects them to a pharmacist instead of the AI.
Once the initial survey concludes, a button linking to Gwangju Pharmacy’s KakaoTalk channel will appear and a copy of the consultation summary will be available for the user to send it directly to the pharmacist, who will continue the discussion and provide the final recommendation.
Alongside this AI service, Gwangju Pharmacy also announced that it has begun carrying health functional food brands CellMed and Nutripharma. This makes it the official distributor of eight brands, including DRS, Duolac, Natures Pharm, Cell Ti, and Ourpharm.
The service, which is free to use and does not require membership registration, can be accessed from the “AI Consultation” tab under the “Nutritional Supplement Recommendation” menu on Gwangju Pharmacy’s website.
90% reduction in development costs
The development of the AI system was handled by Green Cross Partners, a company founded by pharmacists and that specializes in customized software for pharmacies.
According to the firm, integrating AI into the design and coding significantly reduced development time and manpower.
“We have been able to cut costs by up to 90%, compared to outsourcing to traditional development firms. This allows even independent pharmacies that previously could not afford customized software to adopt it,” Green Cross Partners explained.
Currently, the firm has developed and supplied customized software to three pharmacies in the Seoul metropolitan area. It also offers online promotional and marketing services.
“We plan to supply software tailored to each individual pharmacy’s consultation style and products—similar to Gwangju Pharmacy’s AI consultation service—to a wider range of pharmacies.”
