How To Improve Your Online Coffee Sales

Improve Your Online Coffee Sales

Improve Your Online Coffee Sales

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Whether you’re a coffee roaster, coffee shop owner, or sole online coffee retailer, you know the added value of selling coffee directly online.

If you are an established coffee shop or coffee roaster, you may have the advantage of a loyal customer base who will be happy to purchase online from you.

If you have reduced your hours or shut down completely due to the 2020 pandemic, your online sales are that much more important to keep your business afloat.

Improving your online coffee sales is critical more than ever. This article will outline several key tips to help you generate more online coffee sales and keep your customers coming back.

Primed for Improved Online Coffee Sales

I’m going to assume that you have already launched your coffee website. And that your website has a secure shopping cart and payment gateway already up and running with companies like Shopify.

If you don’t yet have your website up, read our article, How to Start Selling Coffee from Home.

Your website is essentially your storefront.

For starters, you want to ensure that you have a clean, secure, and well-functioning website that uploads quickly.

Check to see if your website performs optimally by doing a website speed check for free. There are plenty of website speed checker sites. I like gtmetrix.com. They will list out all of the issues that are slowing down your website.

Next, ensure you have an SSL certificate installed and your site is completely secure. To check if your website is secure, look at your browser's upper left corner just before your URL. You should be able to see a little lock icon. If you don’t, you’ll need to work with your hosting provider to get one.

Consider running through your website to check for any broken links, broken images, or any plugin updates that are needed.

There is a number of other important actions you can do to improve your general website performance. This includes installing a Google Analytics plugin to help measure your online traffic. You can ensure that each webpage on your website is optimized with the proper metadata and free from any glitches.

Improve Your Online Coffee Sales

Improving Your Online Coffee Sales

Whether you are starting from rock bottom or if you want to improve your current online sales by, say, 20% or more, you first want to establish your sales goal.

For example, if you are starting, you might aim to sell 30 bags a week for the first three months of operation. If you are an established coffee roaster, you might have a goal of selling 25% more coffee online per month.

Once your goal is established, you can then craft a strategy that works for you and your coffee business.

Step 1: Establish Your Online Coffee Sales Goal

Pick your destination. Your goal could be based on daily, weekly, or monthly sales, revenue, or new customer subscriptions. Whichever you choose, pick a benchmark and time frame that is practical for your online coffee business.

Your goal should be realistic and be able to match your capacity. For example, if you have just launched your online coffee shop website, you’re probably not going to sell 500 bags a week. Of course, that would great – but that number may be physically beyond your capacity at the moment.

Step 2: Plan for Your Online Coffee Customers

Plan for your success. If you are going to start implementing strategies for more customers and monthly coffee subscribers, you will need to plan for those additional customers.

This may mean that you need to get more mailing boxes, packaging tape, coffee bags, logo stickers, business cards, storage containers, ink pads and have access to more roasted coffee. Make your capacity fit with your goals.

Step 3: Re-examine Your Website Content

The content on your website is the only way people will make judgments about your coffee products. Your content needs to balance your text, pictures, and possibly videos.

Your text may include coffee product descriptions, your “About” or “FAQ” pages, blog posts, etc.

If you think that you need new pictures of your coffee bags, then you probably do. Consider taking newer, fresher pictures that have better lighting or higher resolution.

Customers want to find out as much as possible about you and your company. If your coffee website’s blog is a little thin or non-existent, consider writing a few blog posts about your company, the coffee you are selling, and your personal story. Your content matters and will impact your sales.

Consider adding a rating scale and reviews section for each product where customers will be able to write their opinion about your product.

Step 4: Does Your Coffee Packing Need Upgrading?

Take a look at your coffee packaging from your customers’ perspective. Is your packaging in need of an upgrade?

When it comes to online sales, your coffee packaging will often be the “thing” that puts you over the top to snag that online sale.

Test out a few different packaging options that seem appealing, which jives with your overall coffee branding. Once you get coffee packaging that you are happy with, you’ll want to take new pictures.

Step 5: Rethink Your Coffee Branding

Like your coffee packaging, reconsider and reinvest in your coffee branding. This includes your logo, use of color, slogan, website theme, etc. If you have been in business for a while and are using an outdated or low-resolution logo file, consider finding a freelancer that can refresh your digital logo. Use your updated logo on your website or print new stickers for your coffee bags, business cards, etc.

You might also need to update your website theme. Today, it’s easier than ever, especially if your coffee website is built on WordPress or Shopify. Having a clean, sleek, easy to navigate website is a sure way to improve your online coffee sales. Ensure that your theme is aligned with your overall branding – color, logo, design, and concept.

Step 6: Do you have abandoned cart problems?

Depending on your shopping cart service, you may be able to see if you have abandoned shopping cart orders. It is most likely that you do.

Having an abandoned cart is where a customer fills out their information and suddenly exits your website. They click away for any number of reasons. This happens more than you think!

In fact, just over 88% of customers abandoned their online shopping carts in 2020, according to Statista.

By implementing a sound abandoned cart strategy, you may be able to reclaim some of your lost online coffee sales. For example, if customers have already filled out their name and email address, you may be able to send them an email reminder to finish their order and get a discount.

This small reminder email maybe just enough to get them to finish up their order and buy from you. However, if you throw in an additional discount, you will make things much sweeter and more appealing.

To improve your overall customer shopping cart experience, you might want to try Shopify.

https://www.shopify.com/?ref=ecorenoux

Improve Your Online Coffee Sales

When considering improving your online coffee sales, it's worth looking at your current website. A new, fresh look and clean back-end code can do wonders to improve your website's look, feel, and speed. 

Step 7: Online Coffee Shipping Costs

In the age of Amazon, where cheap or zero-shipping costs are now the new normal, it can be tough for independent online retailers to stay in business.

There is always a shipping cost dilemma for online retailers. Charge too much for shipping, and you risk losing the sale. If you don’t charge for shipping, you could be losing significant money on postage and mailing costs.

Coffee, by its nature, is expensive to ship because of its weight. So, anything you can do to decrease costs will benefit you and your customers.

First, take a look at your overall shipping costs. To ship your coffee, you will need packaging, boxes, labels, tape, ink, and time to get to the post office. You want to ensure these costs are covered somehow, but charging anything additional to those costs could set you up for more non-sales.

You may be able to embed some of the costs in your coffee prices, or you might be able to enact a pricing strategy that gives your customers free shipping if they order above a certain price minimum.

If you have an existing coffee shop, you might be able to have customers pick up their coffee or have a free delivery option within a certain radius of your business.

If you charge for your coffee shipping, you may try a strategy of transparency. Tell your customers what their shipping fees go towards.

Most customers still understand that shipping costs are a reasonable expense. Many won’t have a problem with postage, especially if they are made aware of the costs upfront.  

Step 8: Speedy Turn Around

We are all creatures of habit and fast self-gratification when it comes to shopping. That means we want the things we order online to be delivered as quickly as possible.

But small-batch roasted coffee doesn’t always work that way. Roasting small batches of different blends can take time. That said, you should try your best to get your customers’ orders to them as fast as possible.

In other words, if someone orders on Sunday and you have the coffee available, ship out their coffee on Monday. The faster the turnaround, the quicker they’ll order from you again.

Remember, fresh coffee is best!

The detail on your website and shopping cart page what your average turn-around time will be. For example, you may indicate that shipping takes approximately 5-7 business days.

Step 9: Customer Retention

Your customers are golden and should never be taken for granted. If they have ordered from you in the past, the chances are that they would be willing to order from you again.

You want to do everything you can to keep your customers and have them order from you repeatedly.

Customer retention strategies:

• Always thank your customers for their orders. Customers can get coffee anywhere – make them feel your gratitude. (Send them an email, pack a “thank you” slip with their coffee, and follow up with them again).
• Offer a subscription-based service – where you send them a pound of coffee every week or every month automatically.
• Offer discount coupons embedded in every order to be used in their next order.
• Create a loyalty program. For example, if they order 10 pounds of coffee, they get a free bag of coffee.
• Email them and ask for their feedback.
• Call them and inquire about the coffee that they ordered.

Step 10: Social Media

You can never underestimate the power of social media to bring awareness to your brand and drive your online coffee sales.

Your social media accounts will play a big part in boosting customer interest and website visits. You can also sell your coffee directly from many of your social media accounts.

Chances are you have already opened up your Facebook and Instagram accounts. Be sure to add new content consistently that is worth sharing.

Step 11: Bundling Online Coffee Packages

Consider offering a variety of combo coffee packages to increase sales.

For example, you might offer an espresso blend, a decaf blend, and a single-origin coffee in one coffee box. Even the slightest discount and convenient package can draw interest and generate higher coffee sales per transaction.

Step 12: Excellent Customer Service

Everywhere along the way, it’s important to look at how you are interacting with your online customers. If they have questions or concerns, you will want to address them immediately. Superior customer service will likely lead to improved online coffee sales.

 To deliver excellent customer service, you will need to exceed your customer’s expectations – every time. Try to go the extra mile, whether it’s a quick reply to messages, fast mail delivery, excellent packaging, or a pleasant unboxing experience.

Step 13: Increase Your Online Credibility

When it comes to building credibility with your customers, all the little things count. From your website's look and feel to the SSL security certificate to offering a clear and easy way to contact you, all work to provide credibility and improve online coffee sales.

If you can increase your credibility, you will increase your chances that customers will buy your coffee online.

I recommend you review your existing website and ensure your basic web pages are thoroughly written. These pages may include:

• A FAQ page (Frequently Asked Questions)
• Returns Page
• Privacy Page
• Contact Page

Step 14: Increase Advertising

Advertising is a powerful force to improve your online coffee sales. Advertising where your customers will help drive traffic to your website to interested people who love coffee. Whether you plan on advertising on social media or paid search, you will first review the previous ten steps. Increase your online marketing strategies.

Advertising can be compelling, but you might be wasting your advertising dollars if you have not yet laid the groundwork with other important actions that we’ve just discussed.

If you advertise, you will want to develop a budget and set of key performance benchmarks first. Stay engaged in the process and analyze which platform drives the most sale conversions.

How to Improve Online Coffee Sales

Additional Questions:

Is this a good time to start an online coffee business?

Yes! With the current global pandemic condition, starting an online coffee business seems to be a solid choice in 2020-2021.

While brick-and-mortar coffee shops struggle to stay open, starting an online business can create the opportunity for you to build your coffee brand, build a loyal following of customers, and create relationships with local wholesale coffee roasters. The risks are minimal, and the coffee startup costs are affordable. 

When you decide to sell any item, you first want to see a demand in the market. As you would imagine, the demand for specialty coffee over the last ten years has steadily grown. Interestingly, many people also take steps to start a coffee shop business and an online coffee business simultaneously. With this social-distancing environment, an online coffee business certainly offers a variety of benefits to coffee entrepreneurs. 

Is selling coffee online profitable?

Yes. Many online coffee sellers are making a very healthy profit. Consider looking at BeanBox and Death Wish Coffee.

Of course, if you are a new online coffee retailer, you’re going to need to work hard to gain enough traction to make the money you want.

Having a good business plan, marketing plan, a smooth website, and great-tasting coffee are all things that lead to you improving online coffee sales and making a profit.

A profitable online coffee business requires you to generate sales growth and keep costs low. If you already run a coffee shop, you’re probably going to have the space to work your online production out of it.

If you are a sole proprietor, you could easily run your coffee business from your garage or kitchen table. This will help keep your costs low.

What is the highest cost of starting an online coffee business?

Like other retail businesses, there are two general categories of costs for a new business:

• Your startup costs
• Ongoing-operational costs.

Your online coffee store startup costs will include setting up your business structure in your state, applying for your business licenses, paying a graphic designer for your logo, and setting up your coffee website.

On the other hand, your operational costs will include buying your wholesale coffee beans, your coffee bags, packaging, office supplies, shipping, and any marketing you plan on doing.

As you improve your online coffee sales, your supply costs will increase. The good news is that once you get your paperwork and coffee website launched, you can then pay-as-you-go with your general online business.

The biggest cost upfront is setting up your business structure and investing in a graphic designer. In many cases, you can set up your business directly with your state yourself and save money. Some of you may elect to have a legal service set up your business structure for you.

Regarding ongoing expenses, you will have three sources of costs. These include:

• your wholesale beans,
• packaging, and
• shipping.

Your goal is to keep these costs low and pass them directly to your customer.

What’s The First Step to Starting an Online Coffee Business?

I recommend starting with an online coffee business plan. Do your research and figure what kind of business structure you want to establish, what your name and brand will be, and where you will get your inventory from.

Next, you will want to start reaching out to local coffee roasters and choose a graphic designer to make your business logo. 

From there, you will want to set up your coffee website with companies like Shopify, which can provide you with a secure payment shopping cart system. These steps should help you improve your online coffee sales.

Improve Your Online Coffee Sales

Coffee Shop Startups is the premier online coffee business resource for coffee entrepreneurs. We’ve helped thousands of coffee business owners successfully start their business planning. Some of the links may be affiliate links that provide us a referral commission if any purchases are made. 

Coffee Shop Startups

Based in Seattle, Washington, USA, Coffee Shop Startups is dedicated to providing you with the most relevant information on how to start a coffee shop business successfully. Over the last 11 years, we've helped thousands of aspiring coffee business owners worldwide. We harness the experience, wisdom, and knowledge of many successful coffee shop owners to help you increase your chances of success and profits. We support business owners who want to start a coffee business by providing them with valuable information on starting their coffee business successfully.