How Coffee Shops Can Thrive in the “Next” Normal
These past few months have been a tricky tightrope walk for everyone. If you own a coffee shop, you’re no different.
Sure, you’ve likely diversified your revenue streams, providing curbside pickup and maybe even deliveries. But if you’ve commonly relied on that morning and afternoon foot traffic, the learning curve of how to adapt is steep, and the immediate windfalls have likely been punishing.
The good news is that you’ve done what you had to do to survive and remain on your feet. For that, you must be commended.
Now, your surrounding community is beginning to free itself from the shackles of the quarantines and shutdowns. There’s a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, and slowly but surely, you’ll enjoy some much-needed foot traffic in your shop.
Here’s the kicker:
You must grasp how the pandemic has changed the world and be ready for it to be permanent.
That’s not to say it’s a guarantee that we’ll always have to remain socially distanced and obsessive about disinfectant. However, it’s safe to assume that the way consumers behave in the immediate future will be different from the old normal.
The key is being ready to adapt and to remain informed about your market’s trends.
There’s One Piece of Good News:
No matter how much the world is going to change over the long haul, there’s always going to be a demand for well-made coffee and delicious pastries. So, you have that going for you.
The primary thing that’ll hold them back — at this point — is safety concerns, which is 100% fair. Yes, people and the government alike will have relaxed COVID-prevention protocols. However, that doesn’t mean we’ll all be roaming the streets with abandon, chomping at the bit to enjoy coffee at your establishment.
Acknowledging the Post-COVID Fears
Your old customers might come back to your coffee shop once it reopens, but maybe not as much. Before, you perhaps could have expected to see regulars every day. Post-COVID, those numbers might be halved, or occur with even less frequency.
For one thing, many businesses are going to continue letting employees work from home. Coffee shops thrive on customers coming in before and during work. That’s a lot of regulars out the window. Also, while most people might be eager to go out, they’ll still limit their public activities. Sure, everybody wants to live a little. We also want to reduce the chances of getting sick, potentially meaning that visits to your shop will be less frequent.
What matters is having a framework and model, for the time being, that will appeal to the lifestyle of your target market. In other words, you need to meet your target market in the middle.
Maintaining COVID-Prevention Standards
Your customers’ confidence in you during this time is going to mean everything to your success.
If people visit your coffee shop, you must commit 100% to cleanliness and sanitary standards that set customers’ minds at ease. That means wearing gloves, masks, stocking on disinfectant for staff/customers, and purchasing glass dividers at the checkout counter.
Furthermore, examine the cleanliness/safety guidelines provided by your local government on what is expected for food and hospitality businesses.
Ensure that you’re limiting the number of customers in your store at one time. An influx of foot traffic will make people feel nervous. And everybody needs to be six feet apart, at least. Enforcing those rules should be the number one priority.
Remember that in being stringent, you’re prioritizing everybody’s safety.
Focus on Digital, Delivery, and Curbside Pickup
After the crisis, Starbucks China benefitted from a 12% increase in the share of digital transactions. It went from 15% in January to 27% in March. Of course, in February, it was at 80% due to shutdowns. But the results in March results display a residual effect from COVID.
Be ready to leverage those trends, maintaining the curbside services you provided during the shutdowns. Not only will this be a convenient luxury for many customers, making them feel valued, but it’s also safe and offers peace of mind.
If you were providing digital deliveries, you could continue those services as well. Of course, you’d likely need to limit your availability-radius and only deliver at specific times. Nevertheless, customers with concerns about their health will be very appreciative of your flexibility.
For instance, if you sell beans at your coffee shop, doing Sunday morning deliveries so your customers can have coffee for the week might make sense.
Even if you don’t have a direct digital delivery/payment service, using your digital channels will still be a must. You’ll need to communicate your post-COVID measures and pricing adjustments to customers. Plus, you can leave your phone number in posts so that it’s easy to call and make a quick order.
These efforts will go far in promoting customer loyalty, which brings us to the next section:
Focus on Customer Loyalty
Another trend that’s come to light in the restaurant industry (yes, you own a coffee shop, but it’s the same sphere) is the reliance on digital loyalty programs.
A program like Loopy Loyalty’s is, first and foremost, incredibly convenient because there’s no physical card customers must remember. What’s equally as critical as the convenience factor is the safety element. Digital stamp cards are 100% catered towards social distancing because there’s no contact needed.
Offering rewards, such as a free small coffee for every 10 purchases or 50% off a delivery fee for every $100 spent, will help customers feel valued in this post COVID world.
Flexibility is Everything with Your Staff
See what kind of traffic you’re dealing with before bringing back your entire team. Then figure out what type of work your staff will be doing, with an understanding that roles won’t be what they were: meaning, more training.
You might have to examine partnering with another company to share staff, for example. What’s important is that you remain open-minded and creative.
Hopefully, these suggestions and guidelines will help your coffee shop thrive in “the next normal.”
