Think Differently About Social Media
There was a time when cafés could post content on social media and their customers would actually see it. Alas, those days are no more. In 2019, the average organic reach for business posts on Facebook is now well below 10% of page likes. That means, if your page has 500 likes, your slow-motion latte art video is likely to reach fewer than 50 people.
Now, thats not to say that social media a waste of time. Paid ads or boosted posts are still significantly cheaper than traditional media like radio or newspapers and allow much better targeting options. An effective way to start is by creating an offer or competition that will appeal to your target customers and use the detailed ad targeting options in Facebook / Instagram to reach only people who are nearby.
The trick is to find a message or an offer that really connects with your specific segment of customers. In the end, the things that resonate with people in the real world, are they things they want to share and talk about in the digital world.
*If you are a café/restaurant owner, or someone with relevant business knowledge in this area, consider sharing your expertise by joining our team of contributors for this series. Send us an email to enquire about a guest post.
The opinions expressed by BizWitty Contributors are their own, not those of BizCover and should not be relied upon in place of appropriate professional advice. Please read our full disclaimer.”
Promote Loyalty With Branded Merchandise
Do you dream of a world where everyone is carrying a coffee cup with your name on it? Make it happen! Selling branded merchandise is a great way to help your best customers be your best marketers while showing off their good taste. Plus, branded merchandise makes them feel like part of a special club for coffee shop regulars.
At first, only order small quantities of branded products, so you can see whats most popular. And remember, limited-time offers are more appealing. Once you see what your regulars are into, add a wider array of products to your branded line. Some of the most popular coffee shop branded items include:
The latest news, articles, and resources, sent to your inbox weekly.
12712 Park Central Drive, Ste 350, Dallas, TX 75251
FPT Operating Company LLC is a registered ISO/MSP of of Synovus Bank Columbus GA
Prolific Business Solutions is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Concord, CA.
LTD Merchant Services is a registered ISO of Synovus Bank Columbus GA Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Concord, CA Esquire Bank N.A. Jericho, NY
Granite Payment Alliance is a registered ISO of Esquire Bank N.A. Jericho, NY.
Philadelphia Processing is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Concord, CA and an ISO/MSP of HSBC USA, N.A. Buffalo, NY.
AMCP Payments Intermediate Company LLC is a registered ISO / MSP of Esquire Bank N.A. Jericho, NY.
The trademark and logo are owned by Clover Network, INC, a First Data company.
Tell And Authentic Story That Resonates
Authenticity sells. Consumers love it when brands get real or show their vulnerable side because it makes the business more relatable.
So, if you have a good and authentic story to tell, by all means, do it.
My best tip is to share YOUR story, says Sonja Thompkins, a business coach for brick and mortar boutiques. One of the most authentic ways to instantly build the know, like, trust factor is to let customers know why you decided to create the business you have. The key is to share the areas of your why that would resonate with your target customer.
She continues, Training your staff so that they know and can articulate the story, and by having a well-designed mission statement hanging in a prominent location where customers can easily view & read it. That kind of vulnerability makes their choice to shop with you personal. And people love to buy from other people, not businesses!
You May Like: How To Brew Four Sigmatic Coffee
Increasing Coffee Shop Sales:
Mixing of Art & Science
As a coffee business owner, you will have to make changes that work for you and your business. There is no cookie-cutter solution that will work for every business. The art of making more sales requires you to try some of the tactics above in a way that works for your business.
Let’s list the ways again you can generate more coffee shop sales below:
- Invest in Barista Training
- Do You Need a POS upgrade?
- Improve Your Cross-Selling & Upselling
- Bundle Deals to Increase Sales
- Modestly Raise Your Prices
- Develop a Coffee Customer Loyalty Program
- Serve Beer and Wine
- Your Coffee Menu May Need Upgrading
- Develop a New Marketing Strategy
Take one or two of the above recommendations and start there. Many of them dont cost very much to do. However, they require you to change your manner of thinking, which is often the most difficult challenge.
If you do try any of the following or have recommendations of your own, consider sending us an email. Wed love to hear from you.
If you have already tried many of the tips, you might have to ask yourself some more challenging questions.
Offer Creative Drinks To Increase Sales
Here are some of our favorite takes on the classic iced coffee.
Lavender Latte: This light and refreshing iced coffee has a unique kick that will keep you sipping. Each place makes them a little differently, but it all is up to you how lavender-y you really want it. The most mainstream way of making it is to make a lavender simple syrup and use that to add the floral flavor while giving it a sweeter taste. Proceed to make the rest of your iced coffee as usual.
Nitro Iced Coffee: It seems like everything can become nitro-ified now. But if youre going to try one nitro thing this summer, make sure its a nitro iced coffee. Its cold brew served from a nitro tap, which is as crazy as it sounds. It looks like a stout but tastes like the best coffee youve ever had. The nitro gives it fizz with a smooth mouthfeel and a creamy texture. As an avid milk adder to coffee, I found that I didnt need to add anything to this and completely loved it.
Espresso Tonic: Fizz, fizz, everywhere. Adding a little carbonation never hurt anyone I suppose, and what better way to spruce up your summer drink than by slowly pouring it over tonic? Everyone has their own twist to this basic idea, but the most barebones is that you pour espresso over tonic water, using a spoon to make a layering effect. From there you can add whatever flavors you wanta common addition is some orange bitters to add a bit of zest!
Also Check: How Much Folgers Coffee Per Pot
Get Your Coffee From Joes Garage Coffee
To further your online coffee business, make sure you have a high-quality and consistent coffee supplier. For a quick response and short lead times, partner with Joes Garage Coffee. We perform many services to offer your e-commerce company exceptional customer service and flexibility from packaging coffee to creating unique flavors and roasting our beans or yours.
Contact us today to tell us about your online coffee business and learn more about our services.
Improve Coffee Shop Parking And Accessibility
What can you do to boost parking and greater accessibility to your location?
The ability of your customers to conveniently park in front of your business will boost your sales.
What can you do this month to keep parking spaces in front of your business clear? Can you put up signs that state, This parking space is for coffee drinkers only!? Or can you work with the city to add a 30-minute parking sign on the adjacent street? Can you work out a deal with your property manager, business district, or city to improve parking?
Additionally, how can you better provide access to customers? Can you create better exterior signs? Can you work with the city to put in wheelchair curb cuts?
Improve your parking and accessibility, and you will improve your sales.
Increase your coffee shop sales:
Read Also: Funfetti Cake Creamer
Improve Your Inventory Management
Reasons for shrinking profits can be found nearly everywhere in a well-established business, and often the culprit revolves around your inventory.
Being able to break bad inventory management habits will be essential to squeeze out more cash.
Your variable costs can skyrocket if youre not managing your inventory well enough. Ordering too many or too little of any of your inventory items can cost you either lost sales or waste.
Far too many coffee businesses end up throwing away too many sandwiches, bagels, or muffins weekly.
Ordering too much of anything before you need it can also cost you upfront costs that you may not ever recover.
So, how do you better manage your inventory?
First, determine if you actually have an inventory management problem. Look around and ask your employees. If possible, review your POS analytics.
Answer the following questions:
- Do you have way too many unused syrups?
- Did you run out of coffee beans during your morning rush?
- Are you throwing away food at least three times a week?
Understand your daily sales. I am not just talking about the money you are making, but which exact items are you selling.
You can do the necessary accounting by hand, such as reconciling your checkbook. You can also do it with an affordable coffee shop POS system, which we will talk about next.
Increase your coffee shop sales:
Develop A Coffee Customer Loyalty Program
Repeat business is critical to boosting your sales. Every regular or loyal customer can generate enormous earnings over time. Treating regular customers well through consistently good customer service and well-pulled coffee will impact your annual sales.
I will acknowledge that business experts and coffee shop owners often oscillate between having coffee shop loyalty programs and having nothing. If you are on the fence, consider the following:
Lets say you have a customer who visits your coffee shop two mornings a week. This customer purchases an Americano and muffin nearly every visit.
- Coffee $2.75 coffee
- Muffin $3.50 muffin
- Total $6.25
Multiply this by 2 days. You get $12.50. If a loyalty card or program brought him in an extra visit per week, he would spend $19.00 per week, before tips.
This works out to
- Spending per month: $76
- Spending per year: $912
Thats a $300 annual increase by adding one single day per week through a loyalty program! Of course, not all coffee shop loyalty programs are the same. Youll have to develop a program that your customers value and make financial sense for your coffee shop.
Increase your coffee shop sales:
Also Check: How Much Caffeine Is In Bai Drinks
How Can You Choose A Strategy
As a producer, its important to know where you want to be in the next five, ten, and twenty years. Its also important to evaluate your strengths. If you have a background in agriculture, it may be best to focus on operational strategy. But dont feel like you have to choose just route. You can use elements of each strategy to develop your business. In fact, this can make your company more resilient.
So list your strengths, decide where you want to be in the future, and work out the best strategies to get you there.
Feature photo credit: Herbert Peñaloza
Perfect Daily Grind is not affiliated with any of the individuals or bodies mentioned in this article, and cannot directly endorse them.
Start Your Coffee Shop Planning
Comprehensive. Convenient. Affordable.
Coffee Shop Startups is the premier coffee shop business resource for aspiring entrepreneurs. We provide the most comprehensive way to research and plan your coffee shop business.
Our Complete Coffee Shop Startups Kit is packed with everything you need to know before you open your coffee shop business. With hours and hours of one-on-one interviews, you’ll hear from real-world coffee shop business owners and experts.
When you purchase The Complete Coffee Shop Startups Kit, you receive an invaluable collection of exclusive resources designed to help your coffee shop business grow.
These tools will get your coffee business on the right track and give you the motivation to move forward with confidence.
Theres never been a better time to start a coffee shop business. And theres never been a better resource to help you get started the right way.
Nows the time to take action but only you can do that.
Read Also: Coffee And Eliquis
How To Boost Coffee Shop Sales & Profits
Small Changes Can Increase Your Coffee Shop Profit Margins
Your coffee shop sales is the lifeblood of your business.
No sales = no business.
As a coffee shop owner, increasing your coffee shop’s sales and profit margins should be the top priority. Like any other retail business, your coffee shop needs to experience sales growth to ensure your coffee shop’s overall long-term health.
When it comes to your coffee shop, there are three essential factors you should examine to boost your coffee shop revenue.
These revenue factors are:
- Average sales receipt price
- Overhead costs
Each of these have a role to play in your coffee shop revenue. Therefore optimizing each for profitability can really make a big difference in increasing your sales figures.
In today’s post, we’re going to talk about taking the steps to improve your coffee shop sales and boost your revenue and profits.
Invest In Specialty Options
Your customers have spent enough time at home drinking regular coffee. Now that the world is reopening, theyll visit your business. Wow them with a delicious treat that gets the job done. That means you need to invest in something that they cant just make at home. With Intelligent Blends private label coffee, you are giving your customers a specialized coffee experience.
You can choose the style you buy it in and the flavoring as well. Plus, you can get USDA Organic or Fair-Trade beans, too. Knowing that they are consuming good coffee is sure to bring them back for more
Don’t Miss: How Much Caffeine In Starbucks 2x Caffeine K Cups
Hire The Right People
Quality also means hiring the right people to work in your coffee shop. This can be the difference between success and failure.
Although it can be tempting to hire the cheapest help, in the long run, you must ensure that your front line is positioned to promote repeat business and growth by word of mouth. Your employees are your customer service force, and you need a top-notch team.
Optimize Your Ordering Area
You have a small area of space and time to get your customerâs attention, and itâs while theyâre at the counter placing their order. You can optimize that area for maximum profit in a few ways.
- Donât fill it up with too many signs. If thereâs too much to see and read, customers tune the whole area out.
- The only signs you should have should be professional, easy to read and understand with as few words as possible, and should point people to ordering drinks that have high-profit margins.
- Only place high-profit items in the ordering area. Lower profit items, like bags of whole beans, can be placed elsewhere.
- Make add-ons easy to see so that upselling is easier and more natural for your employees.
People have limited attention spans, and at peak times, the ordering area of a coffee shop is hectic. Keep it simple with all things pointing to maximized and streamlined sales.
You May Like: Circle K Monthly Drink Subscription
Know Your Customers And What They Want
Some items like USB chargers and hot coffee will be best sellers no matter where youre located, but devoting more shelf and countertop space to items your customers want or need is a great way to increase c-store sales. Its reasonable to expect a c-store along an interstate highway to have different customers than a c-store in a suburban area.
For example, a c-store with long-distance truckers as customers may offer personal grooming items to its customers and effectively increase sales. Or, if your c-store is near a school, devoted shelf space to high margin toys can drive sales.
Icipate In Your Citys Restaurant Week
If youre not taking part in your citys annual Restaurant Week events, nows the time. Not only does this give your space extra exposure, but its an effective way how to get more customers in your restaurant.
Restaurant Weeks are a great opportunity to show off signature dishes, and even experiment with new ones. You can also leverage them to get the word out about your private event offerings. Include details about your program in check presenters, and consider offering a special deal if someone books an event within a certain time frame.
Recommended Reading: Is There Caffeine In Snapple
Ensure That Your Store Shows Up In Online Search Results
Now more than ever, consumers are turning to Google to find stores and products. Make sure that youre showing up whenever they conduct a search relevant to your business. If you sell baby clothes, for example, then you want nearby customers to find your business whenever they run a search for baby clothing store near me.
You can do this by setting up business listings on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other platforms. When creating your profile, add in as many details as possible. These include:
- Name, address and phone number
- Accurate business hours
- Lots of reviews
- Lots of visual content including recent photos, and if possible, a virtual tour of your store.
It takes a bit of extra time, but doing this will make your listing more attractive and, as a result, drive more traffic to your location and website.
Consider the example below. Which listing do you think gets more traffic: the one on the left, which contains detailed info, reviews, and lots of photos? Or the plain listing on the right? As far as appearances go, were willing to bet that the company on the left gets more business.
Take your Google listing to the next level by .
Leverage a solution like Pointy, which allows you to display your in-store products on Google without manually re-entering your inventory data.
We can see this in action in Maxwells of Chelmsford, a retailer in Massachusetts that sells lawn and garden supplies, animal feed, and pet food.