Post-Covid Coffee Date: Prepping for a New World in 2021

These days, it doesn’t matter how large or small your operation is: Everybody runs on tech! After seeing how COVID-19 affected the coffee industry, Science has put in the time and research to create a guide of best practices that are specifically tailored to the size of your business.

1. Reopening

Many states are reducing their in-house social distancing restrictions, so soon the world will be seeing the iconic coffee shop imagery of the past. Windows speckled with authors and their laptops, couples on their first dates, or simply friends meeting up for the first time in a long time. When it comes to large chain locations vs. smaller one location shops, 1 in 5 customers spend over 4 hours in single-location and local chain coffee shops. What may have been less important to the consumer 3 months ago who was just picking up an online order, may be important once again. It’s vital to make sure that all POS systems, Internet (including Guest Wifi), Phone, and Audio systems are consistently functioning properly as customers return to their favorite coffee shops. Consumer expectations and habits have changed over the past year, so accommodating everyone’s needs in a safe and efficient way is fundamental.

For larger chains, the issue of time spent dining-in may not be the prime concern, but that won’t deny the expectation of fast-paced service. The Iced Coffee season is here, and those who like to grab their beverage and go will not want to wait for their drink after ordering ahead of time, just because the internet in the store is down. Not only is this bad for the customers, but it also means losing sales.  The best way to prevent these crises is by installing a backup internet connection. Choosing the right provider for a redundant internet connection is important to all businesses, and Science provides a reasonably priced solution for $49/month.

2.Hiring

With loosening restrictions, some businesses may be looking to expand their staff over the next few months. Depending on the size of your business, It will be important to acknowledge the amount of time and resources that will go into training and paying a new employee. With all the additional technological needs embedded in the coffee industry over the last year, it is important that new starts understand how to problem solve for epic technological malfunctions. Luckily, Science can handle 96% of all software issues remotely. That means the amount of time focused on learning the specific-to-shop systems can be taught as needed, allowing your team to do what they do best - make great coffee and provide great service. 

3. Resources

Although every business has access to different resources, at the end of the day, the name of the game is sales. For smaller businesses, a loyal customer base is a valuable ally, during and post-covid. Now that the opportunity to expand that base is being presented once more, the resources to accommodate that might be harder to achieve based on store size. However, the opportunity for presenting an e-commerce business model to expand from the backend can help provide an influx of revenue to catalyze the diversity of sales. For example, you can check out Science’s website development package via Nutkrack and their seamless online shopping experience.

4. Data

From your POS, to your social, to your online ordering system, there is one commonality that is the future currency of restaurant and retail – data. As restaurant tech continues to evolve, knowing how to better serve your customers is vital. Science values data for ourselves and our subscribers, and it is in our nature to analyze consumer data so that we may apply it to your business. It doesn’t matter what the size and reach of your coffee shop is; knowing your customer is how to ensure your business is alive and thriving. CRM’s for restaurants and retail can provide insight on how to: update menu items, enhance the quality of service, and effectively advertise across different channels. As larger companies have already capitalized on this, it’s key for smaller chains and one-location shops to do the same as the restaurant industry approaches a renewed focus on consumer-driven solutions 

To figure out exactly how your business operations can function at the highest level in 2021, Science is happy to provide a free consultation with no strings attached.