BETTER PROFITABILITY
Hiring expert baristas has become increasingly harder, said Kim, a 20-year-veteran of the coffee industry who joined Lounge X’s parent, South Korean XYZ Robotics, seven years ago to launch the unstaffed coffee shops in 2024.
They first tested the waters with a hybrid model employing one or two baristas in each store. Now each requires just one hour-long morning visit by a human worker to top up inventory such as coffee beans and bakery goods, and run clean-ups.
While sales at a human-staffed coffee shop still tend to be higher, Kim said, the savings on labour boost the profitability of each unstaffed store to more than 40 per cent, from roughly 10 per cent to 15 per cent at the conventional equivalent.
“Although there has been an incident of theft, the vast majority of customers use the store conscientiously,” said Hyun Sun-Joo, who took over an unstaffed ramen eatery last year to bring in some income after years spent as a stay-at-home mother.
Hyung said the self-service format, in which customers pick their choice of instant ramen off wall shelves to add hot water and preferred toppings, lets her juggle her children’s schedules and housework, freeing her up from managing staff.
One customer, student Kim Hee-yeon, said she ate there at least once a week, as the operating hours suited her irregular eating habits.
“I like to eat quietly while looking at my phone, so I do feel psychologically more comfortable when there isn’t anyone around,” she said, adding that a hiccup with the shop systems she once faced had taken just minutes to resolve.
“It is slightly inconvenient that they aren’t right next to me when I have a problem,” she said. “But last time … they came and resolved it within about three minutes, so I don’t think that was a major inconvenience.”
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