From responding to reviews to managing stores… AI is advancing into small and medium-sized enterprises’ operations

Startups deploy various AI solutions customized for small and medium-sized businesses
AI transformation accelerates in the business environment of small and medium-sized enterprises

Artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to move between kitchens and counters and sit next to local business owners. This change is being driven by IT startups introducing a variety of AI solutions customized for small business owners. From responding to customer reviews to overall store management, AI is making its way into small and medium-sized businesses, and is now becoming an essential tool for neighborhood businesses.

Korea Credit Data announced on May 27 that its recently released “Cash Bill AI Review Management” feature has received positive responses among small and medium-sized business owners. This feature implements a three-step automated process that includes sentiment analysis, classification, and response generation. Specifically, AI analyzes reviews collected from distribution platforms and map services and categorizes negative feedback into stages such as “inconvenient,” “dissatisfied,” and “malicious.” For each review, the system suggests several response templates suitable for the situation and allows users to edit them or post them directly on the platform. There is also a function to collect negative reviews and notify them at a fixed time every day, so there is no time for review management even outside of business hours.

The reason why Korea Credit Data’s approach is attracting attention is because it eliminates the burden of installing new applications. Cash Note is a business management service used by 2.2 million companies nationwide. An official from Korea Credit Data said, “By incorporating this function into the app that 2.2 million small and medium-sized business owners use every day to manage their sales, we have lowered the barrier to introducing AI,” and “We will continue to add various AI services that provide practical support for small and medium-sized business management.”

Table ordering company Torder also recently launched a pilot service for its AI “TorderGPT” for small and medium-sized businesses. The service automates store management tasks in real-time and can be used directly in the familiar KakaoTalk chat window without having to install a separate management program or learn a new system. This allows users to automate a variety of repetitive tasks, such as changing product names, setting product out-of-stocks, and updating images on table ordering devices. Torder has also introduced sales and order inquiry functions for some stores that have installed POS systems. For example, suppose a user enters a question such as “How many chickens did you sell today?” Receive real-time answers in the chat window.

PayHere, an integrated store management platform, also provides an “AI expense ledger” service for small and medium-sized businesses that are troubled by the complexity of managing expenses such as ingredients and raw materials. When users take photos of receipts, statements, and tax bills with their phones, AI automatically recognizes the transactions and sorts them by category and vendor. This allows small business owners to easily check their purchasing status and spending patterns by date and day of the week, reducing unnecessary costs and improving operational efficiency.

“The business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises is rapidly evolving, moving from digital transformation to AI transformation, as startups continue to introduce AI-powered services to solve the challenges of small and medium-sized business owners,” said an industry insider.

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