How to Do Takeout Marketing for Coffee Shops? How to Use Delivery to Drive Traffic to Your Cafe?

Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex.

After discussing that small storefronts plus delivery models are suitable for today's coffee shops, many people have reported that delivery platforms now charge high commissions, resulting in low profits. Some popular items that maintain traffic volume are even loss-making deals, which is truly frustrating!

Many coffee shop owners have shared during conversations that today's delivery platform managers are very unprofessional, often persuading merchants to engage in price wars to attract customers with low prices.

But in fact, this approach not only fails to make money but even results in losses. At the same time, it kills your own brand, and when customers visit the store, they will feel it's not worth it due to the price gap between in-store and delivery products.

Regarding whether coffee shops should participate in delivery, opinions are divided. How to use delivery to drive traffic to your brand is something that needs to be planned from the very beginning of opening your shop.

"Determine Product Pricing Before Opening and Find Stable Supply Sources"

First, before opening, you need to determine the positioning of your coffee shop and the products and pricing that are acceptable to the surrounding customer base. Then, secure a batch of coffee beans and materials that can be stable for long-term supply, and plan your products for delivery/takeout. Summarize the problems you've encountered when ordering delivery/takeout yourself that need merchants to solve or correct, then think about potential issues with your own products, and make preparations in advance before starting operations.

"Boost Your Dianping Rating and Get Quality Reviews Before Joining Delivery"

If you're joining the "Xiao Dai Shu" delivery platform, you need to build a good rating on Dianping (China's Yelp equivalent). According to feedback from some coffee shop owners, having good ratings and a certain number of quality reviews on Dianping can get you short-term free recommendations on delivery platforms. Therefore, new shops shouldn't rush to join delivery platforms at the beginning.

"You Can Improve and Optimize, But Don't Experiment"

It's very foolish to wait until after opening to think things through or to "experiment" with a limited customer base. It's already difficult enough for a new brand to attract customers. When you gain a customer's trust and they're willing to try your products, merchants must seize every opportunity.

Because when you gain one customer's approval, it's equivalent to gaining one more opportunity for promotion. Word-of-mouth is always the most crucial factor in the service industry, because these are consumers sincerely recommending to people around them from the heart.

Whether online or offline, every product feedback should be taken seriously. When the same problem is reported by more than 2 people, you should consider whether you can optimize and adjust.

"Competing with Low Prices is Like Doing Charity!"

Many merchants who report losses on delivery are losing money due to blind low pricing. Many platform managers with new shops recommend merchants participate in promotional activities on the platform. However, if merchants haven't calculated all costs properly during the initial opening phase and don't have stable products, impulsively participating is like doing charity activities - you earn neither money nor loyal customers. In terms of low prices, independent merchants cannot compete with chain brands; it can be said they're completely outmatched. Therefore, what independent coffee shops need to do is differentiate themselves from chain brands through the quality of their products and service details.

Customers who choose to consume at independent coffee shops hope to experience more professionalism and better service. Therefore, regardless of what kind of customer chooses what kind of product, you must start from a professional perspective to retain more customers and increase the repeat purchase rate.

"Think from the Perspective of Delivery Customers and Customize a Reasonable Delivery Menu and Pricing"

Those who frequently order coffee delivery are mostly office workers. This type of consumer often needs high-value caffeine beverages, so the delivery business model differs from that of physical stores. Customers who visit physical stores pursue more coffee taste and service, while delivery customers focus more on price and consistency. Coffee is a beverage that emphasizes timely consumption. After long delivery times, the flavor is basically gone, and the taste will be greatly reduced. Therefore, only offer products that can withstand delivery time while having reasonable costs and pricing, and ensure they can be long-term main products with stable quality.

In terms of product selection, don't offer too many options. Keep the layout simple, clear, and attractive without being too fancy. This is to reduce customer decision fatigue and visual exhaustion, avoiding situations where customers choose other merchants because they don't know what to select due to too many choices.

"Convert Platform Traffic to Private Traffic"

This is very important! Although it might seem unethical, the purpose of joining platforms is for promotion, and then converting this traffic into loyal customers of your brand. If you still rely on selling one cup at a time in your private domain, it's definitely more loss-making than using delivery platforms. Therefore, this is another business mindset, somewhere between the human touch and meticulous service of physical stores and the high cost-effectiveness and convenience of delivery.

On one hand, you can include small cards inviting customers to join groups. Customers who join these groups can order products not available on delivery platforms and receive other special offers. On the other hand, you can launch large-portion products or combination meal packages to encourage customers to place group orders with friends and colleagues, increasing the profit per order. Additionally, you can add stamp cards or scratch cards to delivery orders to encourage delivery customers to visit the store. "Stamp cards" work like points - collecting a specified number allows customers to redeem designated drinks in-store. The rewards in "scratch cards" can include drink redemptions or in-store consumption discounts.

These groups are like hobby chat rooms. They gather a group of customers, allowing merchants to better maintain communication and interaction with them, increasing customers' trust in the merchant and brand. They also provide faster feedback channels when problems arise, whether for delivery customers or in-store customers. Everyone can be encouraged to join these groups. Merchants can also share more and chat in these groups, making customers feel the brand's professionalism and further attracting them to visit the store to experience the atmosphere and service.

Image source: Internet

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473