How to Sell Coffee Online With Shopify

The Ultimate Guide to Sell Anything Online With Shopify 

Disclosure: This is an in-depth article with tons of information you can't get anywhere else! We're going to give you everything you need to get started with Shopify and selling coffee online.  We have an affiliate relationship with Shopify, so some of these links allow us to earn a commission to help pay for this site – at no additional charge to you.

How to Sell Coffee Online With Shopify

(The Ultimate Guide)

Selling coffee online might be the perfect business for a coffee lover.

Whether you want to start an online business, create your own coffee brand, or eventually open a coffee shop, selling coffee online can make an excellent springboard for an incredible business.

After all, the world loves coffee!

And customers get more accustomed to buying groceries and food online, they will also buy more coffee online too!

This article will show you how to use Shopify, the world's most popular online selling platform, to sell coffee online.

You may also want to read, 10 Easy Steps to Selling Coffee Online. In today’s post, we will focus on using Shopify as a platform to generate the sales you want.

So, let's jump right in.

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The Definitive Guide to Selling Coffee Online With Shopify

This is what we will cover:

• Is selling coffee online profitable with Shopify?
• What kind of online coffee shop do you want to be?
• The process of selling coffee online.
• Steps to starting an online coffee business.
• Online coffee marketing: How to sell coffee online.
• Why is Shopify a good choice for your online coffee business?
• How to create your online coffee store with Shopify (With pictures)
• Online coffee selling questions.

How to Sell Coffee Online With Shopify

Is Selling Coffee Online Profitable with Shopify?

Yes. Selling coffee online can be profitable with Shopify! Shopify merchants can experience profits from selling a wide variety of products, including coffee.

But there are important caveats to selling coffee online that will lead you to profitability.

Keep in mind, as online coffee companies grow, they often expand to offline coffee ventures, such as setting up a mobile coffee business or a brick-and-mortar coffee bar.

The good news is that when this happens, you can integrate Shopify's online website platform with your coffee shop's POS system.

Let's be clear:

Selling coffee online is not a get-rich scheme. And it shouldn't be. It's a real business.

Starting an online coffee business takes work, knowledge, and the right tools. Ultimately, your success will be determined by focusing on the right customer, the right niche, marketing your business, and delivering the perfect online customer experience.

How much money can you make selling coffee online with Shopify?

To determine how much money you can make selling coffee online, you will primarily deal with three things that all online businesses contend with:

• Volume of sales
• Inventory costs
• Overhead costs

To make money selling coffee online, you will have to increase your sales volume, keep your inventory costs low (without sacrificing quality) and manage your overhead costs.

You may also want to consider the existing competition. When it comes to coffee, everyone is potentially your competition! But that should not deter you from starting your online coffee shop!

Don’t be afraid of your competition. There are so many potential niches where you can succeed.

While the competition for online coffee sales can be fierce, you can work hard to develop your unique coffee brand and loyal customer following by finding your online coffee niche.

Don't let the competition discourage you! Since nearly 8 out of 10 adults drink coffee, you can appeal to many of these potential customers. 

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How much money can you make selling coffee online?

If you want to get more specific revenue numbers, consider that each bag of whole bean coffee (12 oz.) will retail between $18 – $22 in the United States.

For the sake of simplicity, let's average out the retail cost to $20 for one bag of coffee. For example, if your goal is to sell 200 bags of coffee per week, you are looking at bringing in $4,000 in online coffee revenue per week.

Let's break it down so you can see what I mean:

Online Coffee Sales Per Week:

• $20 per bag x 100 coffee bags = $2,000/week
• $20 per bag x 200 coffee bags = $4,000/week

OR bump up the cost:

• $22 per bag x 100 coffee bags = $2,200/week
• $22 per bag x 200 coffee bags = $4,400/week

Online Coffee Sales Per Month

• 4 weeks at $2,000 = $8,000/month (selling 400 bags of coffee)
• 4 weeks at $4,000 = $16,000/month (selling 800 bags of coffee)

Of course, these are rough example revenue estimates based on the average whole bean coffee (specialty or gourmet) bag in the United States. Your average retail price may be higher or lower.

Let's say your wholesale cost per coffee bag is $7 per pound or 35% of your retail price. Using these numbers with the first revenue example, you can estimate that it would cost about $1400 of coffee for every $4,000 you make.

Of course, you will have other costs, such as packaging, storage, website fees, marketing, startup costs, etc. All of these costs are important and can be significant. To determine your expenses, you will have to write a coffee business plan.

For a more in-depth article, you may want to read our related post, How Much Does a Coffee Shop Owner Make?

What Kind of Online Coffee Shop Do You Want To Be?

Okay, so we've determined that you want to sell coffee online. The next step is to decide what type of online coffee shop you want to be.

There are plenty of options to choose from. However, once you figure out what type of online coffee shop you want to be, it's easier to move forward.

Here are my three recommendations when choosing your type of online coffee business:

• Choose a specific online coffee niche
• Work to develop your online coffee brand
• Choose an online coffee business concept you can grow with
• Choose something you can get excited about

Choosing your online coffee store niche

Choosing a niche allows you to be laser-focused on your customer base. The more focused you are, the more likely you are to develop a loyal following.

Since coffee is a commodity product, being everything to everyone will get you nowhere.

Let me put this another way:

You are not selling coffee to the masses. Leave that to the coffee conglomerates and corporate folks. Instead, you want your online coffee business to appeal to a specific group of people who will be your customers.

When it comes to focusing on a target market, stay focused and go deep.

Develop your online coffee brand

Once you determine who your niche customer is, you can tailor your branding efforts to appeal to this specialized group.

Since many customers won't have the ability to see and smell your coffee in person, they will make many decisions based on the attractiveness of your coffee brand, as well as your online content.

Develop a coffee brand that excites your customers, using colors or a design that captures your online coffee business idea.

You will want to develop your online coffee shop logo, slogan, and color scheme. Additionally, you want to communicate in a manner that best relates and resonates with your target market.

Choose an online coffee shop concept you can grow with

Unless you plan to invest a large sum of money in a large online coffee operation right away, you will probably start small.

Starting small is okay. In fact, many successful entrepreneurs will tell you that starting small is often the best approach.

My advice: start small but plan for growth.

There are plenty of great reasons to start small. The online coffee business concept is a perfect low-cost coffee business idea that we believe can position you for greatness.

Choose a concept or business model that you can grow with. For example, you might decide to offer small bags of artisanally roasted coffee and then branch out offering more significant amounts of beans to local coffee shops or corner stores.

Choose something you can get excited about

When you start any business think about what really excites you. First of all, it’s coffee. What types or roasts of coffee do you like the most? Is there anything else that you can add to your online coffee shop concept? Maybe you love eco-friendly bikes by which your coffee will be delivered. Or maybe you love hand-made items and you can add one to every coffee bag delivery. Answer this question for yourself and think about how you can adapt your online coffee shop concept accordingly.

Your excitement will translate into greater customer engagement and higher profits!

The Process of Selling Coffee Online

We are going to talk about how to open your Shopify store, but first, I think it's important to talk a bit about the process of selling coffee online.

If you are already familiar with setting up an online business, feel free to skip ahead.

The elements of starting an online coffee business are similar to other online retail businesses, but it's worth mentioning here.

In a nutshell, here are the basics of selling coffee online:

• You (the coffee supplier)
• A website & shopping cart payment system
• Your customer

Next, you’ll need:

• A coffee supplier
• An e-commerce platform like Shopify
• A way to reach your customer (Marketing)

Let's break these down even further…

Your Coffee Supplier

Who will supply you with the coffee you need to run your online coffee business? Will you decide to buy from a coffee wholesale or roast your own coffee beans?

There are a few general ways to get your roasted coffee inventory to sell on your online coffee store. Let's review a few of them below:

1. Roast your own coffee beans
2. Private label your coffee with a wholesale roaster
3. Collaborate with a wholesaler
4. Curate coffee from local roasters
5. Dropship your coffee
6. Use a Hybrid model

Each of these general coffee supply options carries its advantages. You need to figure out the best option that works for you right now. Remember that if you choose to go one route and it doesn't work, you can always switch things up.

Roast your Coffee Beans

Delivering small-batch roasted coffee that you roasted can be a great experience and business idea. Adding a coffee roaster and securing enough green coffee beans adds a few more critical cost factors and expertise dimensions to your online coffee business you will want to consider.

Private Label with a Wholesale Roaster

There are many wholesale coffee roasters to work with. You can buy roasted coffee and sell it under your own private coffee label. This would allow you to develop your coffee branding.

Collaborate With a Coffee Wholesaler

Depending on your anticipated volume of online coffee sales, you may want to collaborate with a local coffee wholesaler. In this partnership, you would (or could) develop a unique coffee profile in collaboration with a coffee roaster for your coffee brand. You may decide to design and place your logo along with their logo on the package and sell it.

Curate Coffee from Local Roasters

You could work with several local roasters in your area – and sell their coffee in smaller bags. This would allow a customer to purchase a variety of coffee from your local area conveniently.

This is precisely how BeanBox.com started. Today, the online coffee retailer has grown into offering various coffee roasters from all over the country and offering chocolate. 

Drop Ship Your Coffee

Many various coffee drop shippers exist to provide you with the coffee for your customers.

While they each have their specific business model and relationship with their partners, the typical drop shipping business model goes something like this:

You get your customers to buy their roasted coffee, and the coffee roasters provide you with a small commission fee. You often never see the inventory. They usually take care of the inventory and shipping. Your job is to try and convert customers into buying coffee.

There are coffee dropship companies that are legitimate. I would make sure that you do your research before investing in a company that pays you very little money to set up your business to promote their brand solely.

Should I use a coffee shop drop-shipper?

There are coffee dropship companies that are legitimate. I would make sure that you do your research before investing in a company that pays you very little money to set up your business to promote their brand solely.

A hybrid model of selling coffee online

We've covered a few different business models. You can also do a combination of any of these. I call this the hybrid model.

For example, you can sell your own coffee and curate other local roasters that may work if you provide your customers with an easy online shopping experience and a unique brand they want to associate with.

Just be sure that you work to maintain your coffee brand, which can easily get lost in the mix of many different coffee roasters.

Your Coffee Website

Your Storefront, Payment & Delivery Service!

(This is so important!)

Your online storefront is your website.

Your website needs to look good, professional, and seem trustworthy – or else you will struggle to convert website visitors into customers.

When you sell anything online, you want a clean and easy-to-navigate website that allows you to professionally display your products and process financial transactions.

Shopify is probably one of the best, most convenient, and easy-to-use options to sell coffee online.

If you already have an online store Shopify will help boost sales, securely process your orders by taking the money and provide you and your customer the information you need to make the delivery.

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Reaching Your Customer (Through Marketing)

Marketing your online coffee shop is going to be the mainstay of your online coffee business.

Once you get your coffee supplier and your Shopify website in order, you will need to market your online coffee store continuously.

You can reach your potential customers through your online and offline efforts. Of course, these would include social media, your blog, advertising, email advertising, and your offline social network.

Additionally, each customer you do manage to get can also become your biggest promoter. That's why each customer you do get should be treated like gold.

Facebook has been an important marketing tool for online sellers for the last few years. But Instagram has taken off more recently. Tomorrow, who knows what the best social media platform for businesses will be? For now, my advice is to go where your customers are – and where they probably are is on Instagram and Facebook.

Offline Marketing

Remember when people used to talk with each other instead of text or instant message each other? It can be highly effective to speak to your friends and neighbors about your coffee.

For example, consider telling friends – or call them – and tell them you are selling coffee for the holidays.

You can attend farmers' markets, hand out business cards, or introduce yourself to your neighbors.

Putting Your Online Coffee Shop Website Together

Shopify makes it easy to design and develop your website. It's so easy that once it's up, you'll be ready to start selling right away.

Here are a few things you'll need to set up your coffee shop:

Name (Get your domain name) – Choose a character and register your domain name. You can do this through companies like BlueHost, GoDaddy, or Shopify.

Pictures & Graphics – Your website will look a little plain without some images and graphics. Start early searching how you can get high-resolution images of your products and develop your logo. There are a few good free photo libraries online that you might be able to use until you get your pictures taken.

Product and Pricing – Of course, you want to ensure that you have your product, inventory supplies, and pricing determined.

Content – Website without content is like a smile without teeth. It's better with content! It would help if you had the basics written up – such as your about page, product descriptions, blog posts about your coffee and business.

Why is Shopify a Good Choice For Your Online Coffee Business?

Setting up an online coffee business takes diligent work, planning, and marketing. When you finally attract customers to your website, you want them to buy your coffee!

We believe that having a Shopify website can be the perfect e-commerce solution.

• Super convenient
• Easy to setup
• Tons of customization options (themes, plugins, sync)
• Affordable
• Secure payments
• Beautiful Website Themes are available

How to Setup Your Online Coffee Store With Shopify

Step-by-Step Instructions How to Setup Your Online Coffee Website:

• Sign up for Shopify’s free trial here
• Have your coffee business name ready
• Get your pictures together

Common Online Coffee Selling Questions

Do I need a license/permit to sell coffee online?

If you intend to be set up like most businesses, then most likely, you do need a license to sell coffee online from home. Ultimately, whether or not you need a license or permit depends on your type of online coffee business. If you set up a drop shipping scenario or an affiliate type of the coffee business, you may skip getting the license. This is because you may be more of a marketer than a seller.

If you roast your own coffee beans, you might need to get a health permit, as well as a food handling card, to handle coffee beans. You will want to check with your county health department for regulations on handling roasted beans.

How much does it cost to start an online coffee business?

Starting an online coffee business is often just a tiny fraction of the cost of setting up a regular brick-and-mortar coffee shop.

Depending on the type of online coffee business you start, there will be general costs associated with it. I will briefly list a few of the significant costs below:

• Administrative/legal costs
• Permit & licensing
• Logo and graphic design work
• Online store (explore with Shopify's free trial)
• Inventory costs
• Shipping costs

How do I generate more online coffee sales?

Once you are set up and you are “live,” your focus should be on making as many sales of coffee bags as possible.

In the early days of your online coffee business, you should focus on how you will scale up your operations.

This will include having extra space for storing coffee and having an adequate workspace for packaging your coffee bags, prepping them, and shipping them out. Proper labels and even coming up with an efficient way to manage your inventory will be necessary.

Coming up with an ergonomic workflow will be very helpful to you before you get very busy.

Expect that in the first several months to a year, your sales may be slow. However, as you market your online coffee business, develop steady repeat customers, you can generate more sales.

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.