South Korean shops turn to robots, self-service to escape labour woes

Highlights:

• South Korea now has unstaffed coffee shops, noodle bars
• Owners say systems alleviate labour shortages, cut costs
• Model relies heavily on the honesty of users

Unstaffed coffee shops, ramen eateries and flower outlets are spreading across South Korea as owners turn to robots and self-service to overcome rising labour costs in a business model that relies on the widespread honesty of users.

Such stores, usually open 24 hours, were estimated to number 9,000 nationwide by the end of 2024, the National Fire Agency said, while payments provider Samsung Card said their number probably grew fourfold by 2025 from 2020.

"The population of baristas in their early twenties is drastically declining," said Kim Dongjin, chief executive of Lounge X, where a robot arm named "Baris" serves paper cups of Americanos and matcha lattes to fill orders from on-site kiosks.

His company runs eight such 24-hour coffee shops, entirely unstaffed, across South Korea, most of them in Seoul, the capital, although human employees prepare coffee drinks in four more.

Stores with no staff are not uncommon globally, with cashier-free grocers in countries such as Britain and the US, but the concept has spread more widely in South Korea to encompass even pet supply stores and clothing boutiques.

Owners of such stores cite difficulties in finding suitable staff and rising wage costs as reasons for adopting the model, particularly as rates of petty crime are low in South Korea, where customers are generally rule-abiding.

South Korea has a rapidly ageing population, with one of the world's lowest birth rates leading to a labour crunch. The government expects the population of 51.8 million to shrink by almost a third to 36.2 million by 2072.

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 carry out cleaning.

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%, from roughly 10% to 15% 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.

Hyun said the self-service format, in which customers pick their choice of instant ramen from wall shelves to add hot water and preferred toppings, lets her juggle her children's schedules and housework, freeing her 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."