How Covid19 is Changing the Way Coffee Shops Trade
The world has turned upside down and we’re all grasping that there’s going to be a new reality. Already it seems that those that adapt smart and fast will be ahead of the curve.
There’s no blueprint or playbook for this out-of-the-blue event, so bear in mind that not every pivot or initiative will pay dividends. But remember that the more you fail, the more likely you are to succeed. We all need each other so let’s not give up!
Here we’ve collected some of the initiatives we’ve seen that might represent how the industry looks going forward, from now, with these possible paths to trading, into recovery – and beyond.
First of all, before addressing the commercial aspects of adapting, it’s impossible not to pay tribute to those business that selflessly focused on helping the vulnerable and frontline workers when they were already experiencing catastrophic downturns in footfall or enforced closures that more often than not entailed heartbreaking staff layoffs. So we’ll start with that …
Good Causes – Providing Meals to the Vulnerable
Great causes, great PR. Guess who’ll remember who supported who?
If you don’t feel comfortable marketing good-cause efforts, or are behind the curve on this, here’s some ways for you to subtly enable customers to pay it forward instead.
Staying Social
Keeping customers engaged with recipes of the favorites they’re missing during lockdown has been the most popular way to reach out to regulars.
It’s a nice way to show your every day clients that you’re missing the daily interactions you have with them and care how they are.
Giving helpful tips on how they can try to recreate your signature snacks keeps you top-of-mind for that first day they’re able to enjoy the freedoms we perhaps used to take for granted.
And it goes without saying that, if you’ve gained an audience for your social channel – or improved what you had before – then that will serve you well going forward.
Disposables – Sustainability More Critical than Ever
Before we dive into the various business models and types of adapted service, let’s focus a little on the roles disposables will play.
It’s clear that reusables will continue to present a risk while hygiene standards are more vital than ever. So paper cups could be the norm. Even for in-house service, whenever that resumes, under whatever level of restrictions that might entail for social distancing etc.
But that doesn’t mean that sustainability should take a back seat. Consumer standards will still be demanding and so compostable or recyclable paper cups and sustainable forestry accreditation will be expected by many.
Any drastic increase in disposables means picking the best end-of-life solutions for paper cups with your brand on them is more important than ever.
How Cafes and Coffee Shops are Coping with Covid19 Restrictions
So, let’s look at how some businesses are reacting and finding a way to serve.
Delivery Service (Contactless Delivery Service)
Look out for Listings Services
Baked Goods Deliveries
Dark Coffee Shops?
With uncertainty about trading restrictions, many might want to take notice of how Deliveroo has established partnerships with ‘virtual brands’ over the past couple of years.
These are caterers with out-of-town, lower-rent ‘dark kitchens‘ that leverage Deliveroo’s platform to reach customers both online and, of course, on delivery.
Could coffee shops, ice cream parlours and bakeries have a similar model to adopt if walk-in trade remains far over the horizon?
Drone Coffee Delivery
Quite an extreme solution, but it’s happening.
(And its been happening before the Pandemic!)
There are even robot deliveries in some places!
Back to the Roots – Going Mobile
Many of you started with humble beginnings and grew. For some, now is the time to return to the original way to trade.
Hard to deliver drinks? Well, there are challenges, but there is a Guinness on Wheels service in Belfast!
Here is a handy guide we saw for packaging up coffees and hot drinks for delivery service providers such as JustEat.
Takeaway Service
A doorway can easily be adapted into a hatch so …
Pre-Order and Pickup
Here’s an example of a new, easy-to-setup, no-website-needed, Facebook-Messenger-friendly contactless payment and bookings service for running a pickup and pre-order business model.
For kerbside collection there are also text message solutions and other apps that can get you up-and-running to process orders swiftly and economically.
Tap and Go is pretty much mandatory now with many countries raising the spend limits too, so the risk of handling cash can stay low.
We can’t expect all customers to tap their cards using fly swatters, but you can get inventive yourself with how you present your terminal to tappers!
So u ask & I deliver 😂 What can be more Irish on #StPatricksDay than having the card reader @ #tescoWexford passed to u on a #wexford hurl 😂#COVID19 #ireland #SocialDistancing (I had made a video but ya could see the card nbr so it had 2 go 😂) Top of the morning to ya all ☘️ pic.twitter.com/L2Y44NYo7v
— OonaghLatchfordArt (@OonaghLatchford) March 17, 2020
Pivot to Groceries and Booze
Installing plexiglass, following local Pandemic retail regulations and applying for alcohol licensing has been a common twist for neighbourhood cafes and bakeries. Done well this could be something that sticks the test of time.
Roasters Reporting Good Results
Roasters are trading relatively well through the slump with their ability to survive on online sales to loyal customers carrying them through the loss of income from walk-in trade.
Some are trying to re-imagine what the new future looks like as habits change in lockdown.
Beans seem to be at a premium though, so it’s a good idea to maintain supply or keep an eye on alternative products such as ice cream.
Roasters and drinkers supporting cafes
Some wholesale-only roasters have used this as an opportunity to support their retail customers.
With so much danger still in place it could be way too early to talk of recovery, but many will have an eye on what the first days of restriction easing will look like.
How cautious will customers be? What will they have missed the most? Are you setup for contactless? What perishable and non-perishable stock can you get in advance now that will give you that edge to service a need?
Could you work on digital ordering and payment now for example? Who knows what the future looks like, but it seems staying agile and responsive is the key.
Stay safe and strong, we’re here to help however we can.
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