Lotte steers Rezolve to South Korea

South Korean retail conglomerate Lotte is bringing London mobile shopping tech startup Rezolve into its market.

The Korean firm will incorporate the startup’s IT product, which allows customers to take advantage of deals in print by scanning them with their mobile devices in Lotte’s supermarket app. Lotte earns a large proportion of its supermarket revenues – last year valued at KRW17.8 billion (US$15.3 million) – via its printed promotional brochures.

“Rezolve provides a way for consumers to deepen their engagement with their favourite brands and Lotte Corporation, being one of the world’s largest conglomerates spanning food and beverage to department stores to hotels and theme parks, the possibilities of what can be achieved through Rezolve and a smartphone are endless,” Rezolve’s CEO and founder Dan Wagner told City AM in London.

“Mobile devices have become the go-to method for people to explore and connect with brands and Rezolve is rapidly becoming the standard for the world’s leading companies.”

The deal is Rezolve’s largest yet, compared with the firm’s existing operations in China, India and Taiwan. Sainsbury CEO Justin King is currently poised to join Rezolve’s board as an advisor.