Four steps to making your coffee shop Click & Collect channel a success

Despite the ongoing challenges that come with running a coffee shop business, the industry is still seeing growth in this competitive sector. In 2023, the UK branded coffee shop market exceeded 10,000 outlets for the first time , with sales growth above pre-pandemic levels. 

And hand in hand with this growth? Innovation.

New ordering channels like Click & Collect are a great way to innovate and provide your customers with new, convenient ways to order.

In this guide, we provide some top tips for making sure your Click & Collect channel is a success for your business and your customers. 

Why do coffee shops need Click & Collect?

Increasingly, coffee shop operators are taking advantage of digital ordering to help drive their growth plans. Digital channels significantly reduce the queues that are deterring your customers at peak time. They increase throughput, and even provide a bonus rise in ATV.

Brands like GAIL’s Bakery and YOLK have launched Click & Collect for their coffee offering with Vita Mojo, perfectly complementing their ambitious growth plans. LEON, has seen a massive 233% increase in orders come from Click & Collect.

These channels work perfectly alongside beautifully branded loyalty and subscription schemes.

But as with any new channel or service, it’s not enough to simply turn it on and hope for the best.

Tips for launching Click & Collect at your coffee brand

1. Launch Click & Collect directly to your loyal coffee customers

Click & Collect works best with your regular customers. Focus your marketing efforts on your most engaged customers. After all, there’s more chance of you unlocking lifetime value from them.

Incentivise first-time Click & Collect customers

You can use email marketing or social media to offer special online ordering discounts. For example, you could offer 10% off for a first order, promotions for specific days of the week, or incorporate any other discounts and promotions.

LEON encouraged customers to order through their new digital channels by offering a cup of coffee free the first time they ordered. Incentivising and rewarding customers to change their behaviour in this first instance can influence their behaviour and preferences for future purchases.

Unlock growth with loyalty and subscriptions

Points-based loyalty schemes should be completely customisable. This allows you to design your offering from scratch and control the economics, keeping your customers coming back.

This provides a great way to promote Click & Collect, as you can reward customers for every order they place online – firming up the habit.

Use email and SMS marketing to spread the word

Now that you’ve added incentives to your tactics plan, use email and SMS to promote the offers. Your operating system should integrate with your Marketing CRM platform to help build loyalty and keep your customers coming back.

All ‘opt-in’ data instantly feeds into your CRM account, making it easy to connect with your customers. From here, you can send personalised marketing messages to promote continued use of Click & Collect, like ‘thanks for ordering, here’s a 20% off voucher code for next time’.