Small business owners cut costs by 1.38 million
From Chosun Biz Xmas Day 2025 — The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises conducted a survey on 402 companies utilizing kiosks for the ‘2024 Small Business Kiosk Utilization Status and Policy Discovery Survey,’ and reported on the 25th that 93.8% responded that ‘the introduction of kiosks helps management.’ Respondents noted that they saw effects such as labor cost reduction and decreased work burdens through the kiosks.
Typically, the stance on this has been deflective by noting higher and faster sales create better jobs and more employees. Generally that is true but those conditions are not the same for small business. They may have 10 tables total (or less). Half their business might be take out.
Some place like a supermarket may replace 3 employee checkout lines with two pods of six self-checkout. Probably net increase of ten employees (service and techs) with sales.
- A study by Chron showed that self-checkout kiosks process about 60 items per hour, while cashiers can process around 40 items per hour. This means self-checkout can be about 50% faster under ideal conditions.
- However, factors like unfamiliarity with the technology, unexpected errors, and the need for staff assistance can slow down the process significantly.
Summary —
- It was determined that small business owners saw a cost reduction effect by using kiosks (self-service machines) to reduce more than one employee.
- Among the 294 companies that answered that labor costs had been reduced, an average of 1.2 employees were cut, and they noted a reduction in monthly labor costs of about 1.38 million won.
- Problems — 29.6% of the companies reported experiencing difficulties after implementing kiosks. The difficulties they encountered included technical problems like order errors, inability to contact customer service during late-night hours, challenges in utilization due to lack of digital skills, and customer complaints.
- Among the 294 companies that answered that labor costs had been reduced, an average of 1.2 employees were cut, and they noted a reduction in monthly labor costs of about 1.38 million won.
- 29.6% of the companies reported experiencing difficulties after implementing kiosks. The difficulties they encountered included technical problems like order errors, inability to contact customer service during late-night hours, challenges in utilization due to lack of digital skills, and customer complaints.
61.4% of the responding companies noted that the installation and operating expenses of kiosks were burdensome. The average purchase cost of kiosks was about 3.56 million won ($2500 USD) for stand-type and about 1.33 million won for table-type. If kiosks were lent, the monthly average cost was about 100,000 won ($1000 USD) for stand-type and about 190,000 won for table-type.
In addition, respondents identified necessary government support related to kiosks, including training on kiosk utilization for small business owners, guidance on how customers can use kiosks, support for kiosk maintenance and expansion of after-sales service (A/S) channels, and regulation of kiosk fees.