Introduction:Luckin Coffee has recently piloted a new scheduling system in cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu, using data analysis to predict peak hours and optimize staffing. This adjustment involves cost control, employee scheduling flexibility, and response to unexpected situations—especially critical against the backdrop of the full-time to part-time ratio and declining store sales. This article takes you through how the new system works and its practical impact on store operations and frontline staff.

Luckin Coffee has recently launched a next-generation scheduling system in select Chinese cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu. The system uses historical sales data from stores to predict daily busy periods and adjusts required staffing accordingly, aiming to streamline scheduling and improve overall operational efficiency. This system not only redefines the work distribution between full-time and part-time employees but also significantly changes the service capacity and cost control of stores during peak hours.

Taking the upcoming May Day Golden Week as an example, the system predicts that some stores may see reduced morning peak demand due to holiday travel crowds based on past data and real-time sales trends, and accordingly suggests reducing early shift staffing to just one person or even not scheduling anyone under certain conditions. This data-driven decision-making aims to avoid unnecessary labor waste but also raises concerns among frontline staff about their ability to handle unexpected situations.

According to feedback from participating employees, the new system is more “reasonable” when assigning working hours to full-time and part-time staff. Full-time employees are generally scheduled to complete their fixed shifts, with the remaining hours filled by part-time workers. When a store faces temporary staffing shortages, some full-time employees may voluntarily work overtime to ensure smooth operations, but these extra hours are often not officially recorded by the system, leading to what is referred to as a phenomenon of “voluntary labor.”

In fact, as early as March this year, Luckin had already made preliminary adjustments to the schedules of some underperforming stores, having a single employee take on all barista tasks, including taking orders, preparing drinks, and serving customers. At that time, the system had not yet been upgraded, and store managers still had some flexibility in adjustments, but often due to the lack of real-time data support, it led to issues such as unreasonable scheduling, excessive employee overtime, or low efficiency.

The introduction of the new system is precisely to address the blind spots of manual scheduling. By analyzing product sales rhythms, customer traffic fluctuations, and employee production speeds through algorithms, it optimizes staffing needs for each time period using technological means. This not only improves the operational efficiency of individual stores but also helps the company control overall labor costs, which is especially important in the current environment of intensified market competition and declining per-store sales.

According to data from “Narrow Door Food Eyes,” although Luckin’s total number of stores has exceeded 18,000, the number of new store openings in March this year has slowed to less than 400, indicating a more conservative expansion pace. Even so, the vast store network still requires stable staffing support, and how to strike a balance between expansion and control has become an important issue for management.

It is worth noting that after canceling long-term promotional offers such as the 9.9 yuan discount, Luckin continues to launch seasonal new products and cross-industry collaboration events, but actual store sales have not seen a significant rebound. Some beverages have even been temporarily removed from the menu due to poor sales, with related ingredients such as syrups now required to be handled by staff themselves. These signs indicate that some stores may be receiving fewer orders than expected, leading to redundant staffing and further driving up operational costs.

Therefore, this upgrade to the scheduling system is not only a reflection of the company’s focus on efficiency and cost, but also a reassessment of employee workload. By predicting and allocating staff reasonably through data, it can reduce unnecessary overtime and labor waste, while also improving employee flexibility and rest time to some extent, thereby enhancing the overall stability of store operations and employee satisfaction.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.