Promotion for Coffee Shops
Managing a coffee shop can be hard work and usually all the time is spent on daily tasks. Little time is left on developing new ideas and marketing even when we all know how important this is. Competition is usually pretty high and it is therefore vital that you are to stand out from the crowd. Always try to picture yourself in the eyes of the customer and ask yourself why you should visit your coffee shop.
This article can help you out with some marketing and promotion ideas for your coffee shop.
Unlimited Coffee
This may sound a bit scary but it’s quite easy to turn this into a very successful marketing tool. Let’s say that you normally charge £1.95 for a Caffe Latte and it’s about 12 oz big. You change this to £2.00 and make the drink 6oz small. You then offer free refills for the next hour. Make it even easier and more convenient for everybody and charge the same for all the drinks.
The drinks will be much easier to produce because they are smaller and therefore need less milk and espresso. Customers have no need to complain about the size because they can easily get refills. The drinks will taste better since they stay warm and the ratio to milk and coffee will probably be better as well.
Having one price for all drinks also means that your customer can have 2 different drinks with one visit. You will find that people maybe order some more espresso’s which is always a good thing. Then their second drink might be a cappuccino.
You will not loose out on money if you promote this well enough. Most people will probably not drink more than 2 drinks.
Loyalty Cards
Yes, many coffee shops offer loyalty cards: get the 10th coffee for free. But why not make it a bit more special? Why don’t you offer the 5th coffee for free? You will probably get a higher return of your customers.
Coffee Feedback Cards
Not many people will supply you with feedback about your products face to face. Coffee feedback cards that are placed on tables can be a very good research tool for you. Receive honest and anonymous feedback from your customers about coffee.
Refills only half the price
It’s very good to get your customers to buy another drink. You can achieve this by offering discounts on further drinks and by lowering the size of your cups. Offering refills for half the price could be a good alternative for Unlimited Coffee.
Training
Spent a good deal of your time training your staff in coffee and customer service skills. Training will keep them motivated and it will reflect on the overall quality of your coffee shop. It’s not hard to distinguish trained from untrained barista’s.
Offering several choices on coffees
Why would you only offer espresso based coffees? You are a coffee shop right? It’s quite easy to offer a large range of different coffees with the brewing method of the French Press. Try to find a supplier that can supply you with a range of coffees in pre-ground sealed sachets (so the coffee stays fresh).
Set yourself a target for average spent per customer
Setting targets can really improve your sales. Set yourself a realistic target and find different ways to achieve these. A coffee and a muffin offer for example. Or a simple way of upselling one product per day (be careful with upselling for it may scare people off).
Time based special offers
Do you have a lot of people travelling past your coffee shop on the way to work? Find a way to make them stop by your shop. Maybe you can offer the take out coffees for a smaller price during the morning. Or focus on your lunch time with special freshly prepared food.
Signs and promotion boards outside
The outside of your shop is the first thing that people see. It has to be attractive, clean, clear that it’s a coffee shop and should tell the customer why he/she should enter your shop. What is it that makes the outside of your shop so different from others? Is your door open or closed all the time? Is is possible for you to place tables and chairs outside? Have a promotional sign outside advertising the amazing quality of your coffee.