Launching new ordering channels - it’s what every savvy coffee shop owner is thinking about right now. Join us for a deep-dive into how to launch and implement your coffee shop Click & Collect order channel in the most effective way, and get the biggest results.
Despite the ongoing effects of rising costs and the labour shortage, the coffee shop industry is set up for a significant year of growth in 2023. The UK branded coffee shop market drove an 11.9% sales growth in 2022, with customer demand staying strong in defiance of economic challenges.
And hand in hand with this growth? Innovation.
More and more coffee shop operators are taking advantage of digital ordering to help drive their growth plans. Digital channels can significantly reduce the queues that are deterring your customers at peak time. They increase throughput, and even provide a bonus rise in ATV.
Today, we’re focusing on one digital ordering channel in particular: Click & Collect.
Last week GAIL’s Bakery launched Click & Collect for their coffee offering with Vita Mojo, perfectly complementing its ambitious growth plan. It joins other big brands like LEON, who have 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.
In this guide, we break down the top tips to encourage Click & Collect. Explore and learn how to take your customer experience, sales and loyalty schemes to the next level.
1. Launch Click & Collect directly to your loyal coffee customers
In our experience, Click & Collect works best with your regular customers. We recommend focusing 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. Think 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’.
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2. Promote Click & Collect inside your coffee shop
QR codes
Create a QR code that links to your menu and display it in your physical locations. You could print it on promotional leaflets in your coffee shop, display it on posters, or even add it to your next email newsletter.
Tell customers about Click & Collect at the till
Train your staff to remind guests that they can pre-order their next drink online to save time.
If they’re too busy for this, you could give customers a promotional card or leaflet with every order that breaks down the benefits. This could also offer an incentive like one free coffee or 10% off the first time they sign up and make an order.
Signage and promotional materials
Use your signage and promotional posters to tell your customers about the benefits of Click and Collect.
3. Focus on your digital presence - Connect, Click, Collect!
It’s important to direct your traffic to where it counts most – your digital menu.
We recommend forgetting the concept of being ‘too much’. Add your Click & Collect link everywhere online – if your customer can’t see it, they can’t click on it.
Tips for your website:
- Add an ‘Order Now’ or ‘Click & Collect’ button to your website navigation.
- Add promotional banners to your homepage.
-Experiment with a pop-up message when customers arrive on your website (e.g. ‘Did you know you could order online and collect in-store?).
Google My Business:
Claim your listing on Google My Business, which allows you to manage your business profile. Then, add your menu URL to the ‘menu’ and ‘place an order’ section — you can also share your online ordering site through the Posts feature of Google My Business.
Tips for your social bios:
- Update your ‘link in bio’ and description on Instagram - use menu building tools such as Linktree and Shorby to add multiple links and calls to action into your Instagram/social media channels.
- Add a “Shop Now” button to your Facebook profile.
- Update your Twitter bio with your URL and call out that you offer Click & Collect.
- Include links to your Click & Collect menu at every opportunity - don’t publish a post without one!
- Want to go a step further? There’s a great tool called ManyChat, which helps you to engage with customers who react to your Instagram stories. Every time someone reacts to your story with either an emoji or a message, ManyChat triggers a chat bot which includes an automated message from you. Send a simple thank you message or even a link to your Click & Collect menu.
4. Make the coffee collection experience a breeze
You’ve done all the hard work getting your customers to use Click & Collect for the first time. Now it’s time to make the collection experience as easy as possible (this really is the make or break for encouraging that next order!).
Introduce a clear and easy process for collection
Customers will get frustrated if it’s not clear where to collect their order from. HOP Vietnamese designed their entire restaurant experience around digital ordering, and the results speak for themselves. Around 30% of HOP customers now opt to order ahead, compared to just 3% pre-pandemic. How do they do it?
Collection screens outside the restaurant with order numbers/names.
A dedicated collection point in the restaurant.
Staff greet customers warmly and give them their food.
Customers in the queue will see people coming in and collecting their order in seconds. This in itself acts as an amazing advert for Click & Collect – coffee envy is real!
Training
Train and engage your coffee shop team to become advocates of digital ordering. Training team members doesn’t end with a single training session at launch. The coffee shop industry is experiencing a staffing crisis, so it’s important to make sure that new starters have digital order training included as part of their onboarding.
Get started with driving Click & Collect adoption
The best way to get going is to start with the quick wins first, and then you can refine your process over time.
Want to chat more with an expert about how to make Click & Collect work for your coffee shop? We’re here to help you…
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