Selling Coffee Online: How to Launch a Café

By: Ivan Ferguson

Finding an Idea

For many of us, coffee is an essential part of our morning routine. So much so that when we can’t go to our local café, we start brewing more coffee at home. Whether you’re a café owner looking to shift to online sales or a coffee newbie, the growing demand for online coffee sellers has presented a unique opportunity.

Is Selling Coffee Online Profitable?

Selling coffee can be very profitable with the right marketing plan and a strong brand. Coffee is a widely available product with a lot of competition, but don’t let that scare you from entering this industry. There are numerous advantages to a high-quantity product like coffee:

• A large number of customers. Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, which means that even with the current coffee brands, there is an abundance of potential customers.
• The small brand advantage. Customers usually associate larger brands with higher quality and better service, but coffee products are an exception. Customers are more inclined to connect with small brand signals, giving an advantage to smaller brands.
• Opportunities for specialization. Since coffee relies on brand signals, there is plenty of room for creativity regarding specialization. Specialization involves selling to a very small but highly specific group of people.

Starting an Online Coffee Business in 6 Steps

If you’re a café owner looking to move your business online, you’ll want to jump to step six. If this is your first attempt in the coffee field, your journey begins with the beans.

Decide Whether You Want to Dropship or Roast

For café owners with stable supply lines, this step is already complete. If this is your first attempt in the coffee field, it’s important to understand what role your business will play in the process.

Online coffee shops usually supply their products in one of two ways: dropshipping or home roasting. Both methods of obtaining products have their advantages and disadvantages, so the choice of production method depends on what works best for you.

Dropshipping: If you’ve read our guide on dropshipping, you already have a good idea of what involves shipping coffee beans. Dropshipping is when the business outsources the shipping and storage of its products to a third-party manufacturer.

Advantages: Low business costs. More distributed work.

Disadvantages: Less control over the product and its availability.

When to Use Dropshipping: If you’re more interested in the marketing and branding aspects of coffee, dropshipping your coffee beans allows you to focus more on that part of the business.

When Not to Use Dropshipping: If you’re an expert in roasting or a café owner, or primarily interested in business operations that require more hands-on involvement.

Home Roasting: If you prefer to have a personal touch with your product, you may want to consider roasting coffee beans yourself and selling directly through your own online store. The home roasting method certainly involves more work, but it can be very rewarding.

Advantages: More direct control over your product.

Disadvantages: Greater workload. Can be very time-consuming.

When to Use Home Roasting: If you’re more interested in learning the art of roasting, have more time to dedicate to learning how to roast, or have team members to assist with roasting.

When Not to Use Home Roasting: If you have less time to commit to your business, have limited resources, or are more interested in marketing aspects to run your business.

Whether

on social media. Check out forums and groups related to coffee to see what discussions are happening, what questions are being asked, and what needs are not being met.

Building Your Brand

Once you’ve identified your niche, it’s time to start building your brand around it. Your brand is not just a logo or a name; it’s the perception that customers have of your business. It’s important to create a strong brand identity that resonates with your target audience.

Here are a few key elements to consider when building your coffee brand:

• Brand Story. Your brand story is what connects you to your customers on an emotional level. Share your journey, your passion for coffee, and what makes your products unique.
• Visual Identity. Develop a cohesive visual identity, including a logo, color scheme, and packaging design that reflects your brand’s personality and values.
• Online Presence. In today’s digital world, having a strong online presence is crucial. Build a website that showcases your products and use social media to engage with your audience.

Remember that building a brand takes time and consistency. Stay true to your brand values and engage with your customers authentically.

Marketing Your Coffee Business

Once you have your brand established, it’s time to start marketing your coffee business. Here are some effective marketing strategies:

• Social Media Marketing. Leverage platforms like Instagram and Facebook to showcase your products, share your brand story, and connect with your audience.
• Email Marketing. Build an email list and send newsletters to keep your customers informed about new products, promotions, and coffee-related content.
• Community Events. Participate in local events, farmer’s markets, or coffee festivals to get your brand in front of potential customers and network with other businesses.

By implementing effective marketing strategies, you can increase brand awareness and drive sales for your coffee business.

Conclusion

Starting a coffee business involves careful planning, research, and branding. By identifying your suppliers, finding your niche, building your brand, and implementing effective marketing strategies, you can create a successful coffee venture that stands out in the competitive market.

keywords. A review of keyword results can provide ideas for gaps related to the specific search term and help assess the potential demand for those gaps.

Online communities. People tend to gather around common interests online, so exploring industry forums, sub-communities, and social media accounts can be a great way to find a gap.

This step is a thinking process, so allow yourself to generate ideas – whether they are good or bad – then refine or combine them.

It’s better to generate a few ideas and stick with the best one rather than waiting for the “perfect” idea. It’s great to start with a good idea, but how you execute your idea is far more important.

Identifying the products you will sell

Once you find your gap, you might start getting ideas on how to develop your brand. But don’t rush too much – before you start working on your branding, it’s important to identify the products you will sell.

Selling roasted coffee beans is a given, but selling other products branded with your label alongside coffee will provide your business with long-term sustainability by diversifying your offerings.

There are plenty of food business ideas to choose from, but some popular products that a café might choose to sell include:

• Shippable pastries, such as mini cakes and cookies.
• Coffee-scented products, such as candles or air fresheners.
• Coffee-flavored foods, such as chocolate or ice cream.
• Accessories, like coffee machines, kettles, mugs, and containers.
• Tea, hot chocolate, and other warm beverages.
• Branded coffee mugs (along with other print-on-demand products – but remember to focus on your brand. You don’t want to turn into a store that vaguely ships T-shirts with coffee).

What you choose to sell largely depends on your brand. However, if you represent a coffee brand, it’s best to stick to coffee-related products.

Having a variety of products will make your brand unclear and make differentiation difficult.

Developing your brand

Now that you’ve identified your gap, have a supplier, and decided on the products you’ll sell, it’s time to start working on your brand. Having a well-defined brand will help you stay consistent and authentic in your marketing.

It’s especially important for coffee companies to stand out, given the abundance of coffee brands. Your success will depend on how emotionally connected your brand is to your niche.

We have a deeper guide on building your brand, but in summary, developing a brand comes down to these steps:

1. Understanding your target audience
2. Developing a voice and personality that resonates with that audience
3. Choosing a name for your business
4. Choosing brand colors and fonts
5. Writing a tagline
6. Designing a logo
7. Applying, expanding, and developing your brand as your business grows

Strong brands remain consistent wherever they interact with customers. Everything from the aesthetic you choose to how you package your products should align. This is not to say that your brand shouldn’t grow and evolve, but having a clear and consistent brand will help your company be memorable.

Setting up your online store

Whether you’re looking to move your physical store online or start your own business from scratch, you’ll need an online store.

Once you have a strong brand idea – along with colors, fonts, and a logo – you will have the design elements necessary to get started.

Start your free 3-day trial on Shopify

If you haven’t already, start your Shopify trial and choose your store name. From there, you can begin setting up your online store.

Choosing

Theme and Customization

Go to the Shopify theme store and look for a theme that best fits your brand. After that, you can customize your theme to enhance your store’s branding.

Setting Up Basic Pages

Start by designing your homepage, then add other essential pages such as the shipping page, frequently asked questions about shipping, return policy, and contact us page.

Adding Products and Collections

Take product photos, write product descriptions, and start creating your product pages. Organize your products into collections to make it easier for customers to browse your store.

Setting Up Shipping Options

Unexpected shipping costs can add up and impact your profits, so you need to ensure that you have set up shipping rates before your launch.

Start by adding your shipping zones so you can specify the locations you can ship to. From there, you will have several options for how to set up your shipping rates:

• Use shipping profiles for specific product shipping rates or for shipping from the nearest location if you have multiple warehouses.
• Use manual shipping rates to set custom prices based on weight or total cost for a customer’s order.
• Use Shopify Shipping to generate automatic shipping rates from USPS, UPS, and DHL in the U.S. or Canada Post in Canada. Shopify Shipping includes features like next-day delivery, package pickup, tracking information, international shipping, and more, depending on the carrier and mail class you choose.
• Set up local shipping for customers located near your business and deliver products directly to them.

Setting Up Payment Options

Make sure to enable Shopify Payments or a third-party payment processor so customers can pay for their products and complete their orders.

Let Customers Know You Are Open for Business

Once you have suppliers, branding, and your store set up, it’s time to let your existing customers or social media audience know that you are open for business. Here are some ways you can announce your store’s opening and reach your customers:

• Email marketing. Send an announcement to your email list. You might even consider offering a special discount for the first purchase for subscribers. This is beneficial for growing your email marketing list and retaining loyal customers.
• Add a sign to your physical store. If you have a physical store, placing a sign on the door letting customers know about your online store is a simple yet very effective way to attract in-person shoppers to shop online.
• Social media ads. A focused social media campaign can be a great way to build buzz around your online store opening.
• Update local listings. Don’t underestimate the power of Google searches. Google My Business is a free tool that allows you to update all your business listings on Google and across the web. Customers often use Google to find store hours and information, so directing those customers to your online store will be a big help in increasing traffic.

Online Coffee Marketing 101: How to Sell Coffee Online

Announcing that you are open can bring some initial traffic to your store, but if you want to maintain sales, you’ll need to start developing an effective marketing strategy targeting your niche and current industry trends.

There are sound marketing principles for any product, but coffee is unique in some ways that make marketing one of the most crucial parts of your success.

Why does marketing matter in the coffee industry?

Marketing is essential in any business, but as a product, coffee brands particularly rely on the effectiveness of their marketing for two major reasons:

• Tradeable product. Since coffee is a widely available product, customers tend to look for brand cues when making purchasing decisions.
• Coffee
• Coffee is a type of product that people are more willing to buy from a smaller seller rather than a well-known brand.

These factors combine to create a significant advantage in building brand loyalty, but they also mean that marketing is especially important in the coffee industry.

How to market coffee online?

When it comes to coffee, specialization will be the most important aspect of your marketing strategy. You’ll want to find a community of coffee enthusiasts and work on differentiating your brand from the rest.

How to market coffee online:

• Your social media presence is extremely important
• Engaging and visual content is key for coffee lovers
• Post regularly
• Be personal

Don’t forget the “social” aspect of social media. Studies and surveys consistently indicate that social media users greatly value authenticity in the brands they follow on social media.

Especially for small businesses, showing vulnerability and providing an insider look at the company’s operations can go a long way in building trust and brand loyalty.

It’s also important to interact with your audience. Like and respond to comments on your posts. Listen carefully to the conversations happening in your social circles.

Remember that coffee is a particularly personal product, so building a personal relationship with your customers will greatly help in growing your business.

Start your own online coffee shop today!

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world. Whether you are a current café owner looking to move to online sales or you’re completely new to the industry – opening your own online coffee shop is a rewarding experience for any coffee lover.

Creating a standout brand is no easy task, but with the right tools and a good understanding of the challenges you’ll face, you are absolutely capable of building the coffee brand of your dreams from scratch.

Source: https://www.shopify.com/blog/sell-coffee