The Hyundai Hi turns online shopping into an act of discovery
Created by Base Design, the South Korean retailer’s new digital platform blends content, culture and ecommerce
Base Design has partnered with South Korean luxury department store The Hyundai to launch The Hyundai Hi, a new digital platform that reimagines the role of the department store in an age dominated by ecommerce and AI.
Positioned as ‘The Hyundai in your pocket’, the platform represents a shift away from a traditional online shopping experience. Instead, it has been designed around discovery, participation and entertainment, encapsulated in its brand slogan ‘HiHi’, offering a blend of content, culture and ecommerce.
The creative studio was responsible for the platform’s name, brand and digital strategy, visual identity, art direction and UI/UX. Rather than creating another marketplace focused on search and price comparison, Base Design built an immersive ecosystem intended to replicate the serendipity of wandering through a department store.
“Department stores everywhere are asking the same question: What is our role in a world where ecommerce and AI are rewriting the rules?” says Base Design partner Min Lew, who previously led the naming and creation of The Hyundai’s brand identity in 2021.
“With The Hyundai Hi, we helped The Hyundai translate its signature experience – premium hospitality and discovery – into an engagement-led digital platform built for how people consume time, content and products now.”
The platform brings together more than 3,000 brands, spanning established luxury names and labels exclusive to The Hyundai. Dedicated sections for fashion, living and food are organised in a shop-in-shop format, with launch partners including La Grande Épicerie de Paris, Valentino and streetwear label Aape.
At the heart of the experience is a feature called ‘gems’, which encourages users to collect and curate products as they browse. The mechanic is intended to turn shopping into an act of self-expression while feeding an integrated data system that surfaces increasingly personalised recommendations.
Visually, the concept extends into the identity itself, with gem-like forms embedded in the wordmark and interface through glossy, semi-3D treatments and a vibrant colour palette.
The Hyundai Hi also introduces a network of cultural tastemakers, known as ‘icons’, alongside a community hub called Me Space, where users can share content and follow each other’s recommendations. The retailer is also investing in original content, including a stylists’ survival competition show titled Kill It, alongside editorial collaborations.
“The brief from The Hyundai was to rethink ecommerce from the ground up,” says Base Design partner and digital director, Mirek Nisenbaum. “The Hyundai Hi [is] a blueprint for how department stores can extend their moat in a future where traditional ecommerce is being fundamentally redefined.”
Early signs suggest the approach is resonating. In the nine weeks following launch, visitors to The Hyundai Hi increased by 326% to 9.6 million. The platform also attracted more than 470,000 new members, indicating that for luxury retail, the future of ecommerce may lie in experience.