@pessosices, love the challenges to think about the things that can become mundane if we don't keep focus on being intentional with every opportunity to create positive experiences for our customers.
As a coffee shop we serve pastries, a few heavier breakfast items and standard grab-&-go food items from a retail fridge.
With coffee we have our staples, the varieties customers always ask for. We try to never run out of those. We also roast small-batch and single-origin offerings that change regularly for the more inquisitive customers wanting something new. It's our job to introduce customers to the depth available in coffee and show them there is more than what they've always had.
We take the same approach for the bakery and heavier food items by maintaining a core offering then mixing it up with guest pastries, even guest bakers for a period of time. We use our bakery (also retail shelves, fridge and walls) to highlight other makers in town. We bring in food items and pastries from other shops from time to time, display products from local makers on the shelves, and hang art on the walls to bring attention to the amazing artisans we have in our community. Everything is for sale and artisans provide labels along with their products to bring more exposure to what they are doing.
Maintaining the staples, provides a sense of comfort and stability, mixing it up with new varieties and flavors along with introducing local artisans provides some modern edge and exposure for others in town. I share about this model whenever I can and believe other local business owners will benefit from using some of the same tactics while boosting local spending and making.
Promotion: Social is always a good place to start but we're finding Square marketing has a bigger impact. Sending emails, some texts, and using coupons has been a huge advantage for us.
Looking forward to reading about the exciting things others have found successful.
Take care of yourself and, as life provides, someone else too.
