While certain food and beverage trends come and go, coffee shops are here to stay. In fact, statistics show that the retail value of the coffee market in the United States is valued at an estimated $48 billion dollars. However, it makes sense to want to do everything possible to ensure that your shop is obtaining a hefty share of revenue. With that in mind, here are five important tips to help increase sales in your coffee store.
- Setup a Station With Coffee Shop Necessities
Many coffee drinkers know how exactly how they want their beverage of choice prepared. In fact, statistics show that 65% of coffee drinkers prefer to add sugar, cream, or both to this beverage. Considering that, it’s wise to include a station in your coffee shop filled with places for creamer, sugar, stirrers, and lids. No one wants to be without stirrers to swirl around the sugar and cream sitting at the bottom of their cups. It’s always wise to ensure that you have more than enough plastic or wooden stir sticks for coffee drinkers. - Include Delicious Treats by the Counter
Statistics show that, while 65% of all coffee is consumed during the morning hours, the remaining 35% is consumed at other times throughout the day. This means that you’ll likely be serving customers near both lunch and dinner hours. With that in mind, it’s wise to tempt hungry customers with an array of delicious treats somewhere near your shop’s counters. - Always Offer Samples
If at all possible, offering samples to customers is a wise choice. That being said, it might difficult to prepare coffee samples for customers. However, you can easily set aside lunch and dessert treats for guests to sample. In many cases, customers won’t be able to have just one bite and will order the full sized item. - Combine Food and Beverages Into Meal Packs
Many people ordering coffee throughout the day are those leading busy lives. This means that certain customers are going to want an entire meal as fast as possible. You’ll find it wise to ensure that customers know that your coffee shop has them taken care of. Having lunch packs that contain food and beverages that are already prepared will often be quite appealing to the customer with no time to spare. - Consider Starting a Rewards Program
Customers want to feel like they are an integral part of your business. Considering that, it’s important to let customers know that they are appreciated and valued. With that in mind, you might want to consider starting some sort of loyalty program. This program can be as simple as ordering punch cards to give to customers. Each time said customer orders a drink or food item, their card receives a punch. After ordering a certain quantity of items, you could give the customer a free drink. These types of programs are incredibly popular and can definitely help bring more customers to your shop.
In conclusion, there are many ways to boost the popularity of your coffee shop. One of the most stressful situations a coffee shop owner can encounter takes places when supplies are out of stock. Making a bad impression on your customers could have them eventually choosing another coffee shop to visit. Therefore, it’s best to ensure that your coffee shop has a reliable supplier of everything from stirrers to disposable cups.