From Responding to Reviews to Store Management... AI Makes Inroads into Small Business Operations

Startups Introduce a Range of AI Solutions Tailored for Small Businesses
AI Transformation Accelerates in Small Business Management Environment

Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to take a seat next to local business owners, moving between the kitchen and the counter. This shift is driven by IT startups introducing a variety of AI solutions tailored for small business owners. AI is making inroads into small business sites, from responding to customer reviews to overall store management, and is now becoming an essential tool for neighborhood businesses.

On May 27, Korea Credit Data announced that its recently launched 'Cash Note AI Review Management' feature has received a positive response among small business owners. This feature implements a three-step automation process involving sentiment analysis, classification, and response generation. Specifically, AI analyzes reviews collected from delivery platforms and map services, categorizing negative feedback into stages such as 'inconvenience', 'dissatisfaction', and 'malicious'. For each review, the system suggests several response templates suitable for the situation, allowing users to edit them or post them directly to the platform. There is also a function that collects negative reviews and sends them as notifications at a set time every day, ensuring there are no gaps in review management even after business hours.

Cash Note AI Review Management Feature

The reason Korea Credit Data’s approach is drawing attention is that it eliminates the burden of installing a new application. Cash Note is a business management service used by 2.2 million businesses nationwide. A Korea Credit Data representative stated, “By incorporating the feature into an app that 2.2 million small business owners open daily to manage sales, we have lowered the barrier to adopting AI,” adding, “We will continue to add various AI services that provide practical support for small business management.”

Table order company Torder has also recently launched a pilot service for its small business AI, ‘TorderGPT’. This service automates store management tasks in real time, and can be used directly in the familiar KakaoTalk chat window without the need to install a separate management program or learn a new system. Through this, users can automate a wide range of repetitive tasks such as changing product names, setting items as out of stock, and updating images on table order devices. For some stores using POS systems, Torder has also introduced functions for sales and order inquiries. For example, if a user types a question such as “How many chickens were sold today?” in the chat window, they can receive a real-time answer.

Integrated store management platform PayHere is also offering an ‘AI Expense Ledger’ service for small businesses struggling with the complexity of managing expenses such as food ingredients and raw materials. When users photograph receipts, statements, or tax invoices with their mobile phones, AI automatically recognizes and categorizes the transactions by category and vendor. This allows small business owners to easily check their purchase status and spending patterns by date and day of the week, helping them reduce unnecessary costs and improve operational efficiency.

An industry insider commented, “As startups continue to introduce AI-powered services to solve small business owners’ problems, the business environment for small businesses is rapidly evolving, moving beyond digital transformation to AI transformation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.