Convenience Stores Can Garner New Customers with Coffee

 

Coffee seems to warm the heart and is a comfort food of choice particularly in the fall and winter according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Johnson recently read an article written by Zhane Ison about the importance of coffee in C-stores wanted to share it with all readers of this blog, so here we go:

Coffee remains a hot commodity in convenience stores. Whether they’re buying a regular hot coffee, opting for their favorite seasonal flavor or selecting a cold-brew option, customers want their brew fresh, and they want it fast.

To keep coffee sales rising, c-store retailers are finding new ways to update their coffee segments to keep customers coming back for more. Here are five tactics c-stores are using to improve their coffee offerings.

1. Adding/Upgrading Bean-to-Cup Coffee Dispensers

Bean-to-cup dispensers allow consumers to access freshly brewed coffee in minutes while freeing up time for c-store employees during busy hours. With the demand for coffee continuing to rise, more retailers are either adding bean-to-cup dispensers in their stores or upgrading the dispensers they already have.

GetGo, which operates over 260 locations in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana, recently upgraded its bean-to-cup dispensers at all of its self-service beverage areas.

“The new bean-to-cup dispensers make freshly brewed hot or iced coffee in less than a minute,” said Brandon Daniels, public relations manager for GetGo. “All the customer has to do is choose a couple of preferences on the touchscreen, and the machine does the rest of the work.”

Freshness is one of the main factors customers look for when deciding whether to buy a cup of coffee from a c-store. Adding bean-to-cup dispensers ensures consumers receive fresh coffee every time.

2. Including Cold Brew Coffee

During the summer, retailers notice a rise in customers wanting more cold coffee options. To keep up with this interest, more c-stores are adding cold-brew coffee products.

GetGo has seen an uptick in coffee sales since adding nitro and cold-brew coffee to its stores.

“We decided to add these products because we started to see a rise in customers’ interest in cold brew,” said Daniels.

Cliff’s Local Market also provides customers with different cold-brew coffee options to choose from, which has helped boost overall coffee sales for the c-store chain.

“As soon as Memorial Day hits, we tend to see a large uptick in cold-brew purchases. For all stores that have the space to offer cold brew, they carry a premium black cold brew, and then either a salted-caramel or French vanilla-flavored cold brew,” said Derek Thurston, director of foodservice operations for Cliff’s, which has 20 c-stores in New York. “We keep flavor shots near the cold-brew dispensers, so customers can enhance their cold brew if they like.”

Lubbock, Texas-based Curby’s Express Market has seen declining interest in hot coffee drinks.

“We focus on iced and frozen coffee drinks, along with our made-to-order energy drinks,” said Tony Sparks, head of customer wow for Curby’s.

3. Promoting Coffee Options With Deals

With inflation continuing to drive prices higher across categories, consumers are increasingly looking for deals or promotions. When retailers pair their coffee with a breakfast sandwich or offer deals on coffee alone, they gain even more traction toward their coffee offering.

“We offer a combo deal where we offer any breakfast sandwich with a medium coffee for $4.49. This bundling is attractive to our customers and provides a value incentive to continue to return more frequently,” said Thurston.

In April, for a limited time, GetGo offered customers a free self-serve coffee on Mondays when they used their Advantage card.

“After we started the Free Coffee Monday promotion, we introduced Summer Coffee Fridays,” said Daniels. “On Fridays, all nitro and cold-brew products are 99 cents, and made-to-order coffee is $1.99.”

Sparks also noted that Curby’s offers customers a free any-sized hot coffee in September and October with no purchase necessary.

Along with promotions, c-store retailers are starting to send coupons to their customers, encouraging them to come in and buy coffee to help improve coffee sales.

“Additionally, we send out monthly coupons to our email subscriber base. We offer a 49-cent medium coffee or a $1.49 any size cold brew every month,” said Thurston. “We will also do physical mailers with aggressive price points that get delivered in the mail to all households in our trade area. The free coffee coupon is always the highest redeemed coupon we offer, encouraging customers to continue coming in and getting a coffee, thus building habits.”

4. Offering Unique and Customizable Coffee Options

Not only do consumers love coffee, but they also want more options to choose from when it comes to coffee brands and creamer options.

Sparks mentioned that Curby’s is considering a couple novel coffee additions as it looks for unique and true points of differentiation and marketing position within its coffee segment.

Cliff’s offers customers a wide variety of creamers to keep up with the demand for customization.

“We dedicate a lot of counter space in all our stores to ensure customers have plenty of space to add their creamers, sugars and flavor shots. All stores offer a variety of creamers and flavor shots, which helps to enhance customers’ beverages and make them their own,” Thurston elaborated. “We will also offer seasonal creamer varieties to create additional seasonal excitement.”

5. Creating Powerful Partnerships or Going Private Label

Different avenues exist for creating a high-quality cup of coffee. While some retailers focus on developing their own private-label coffee brand, others bring in established coffee brands or partner with local roasters to help them deliver new and exciting options for their customer base. The trick is determining which path works best for your chain.

Earlier this year, GetGo introduced a new signature blend of coffee beans that features a hand-blended, full-bodied mix of four premium beans from around the world and delivers hints of smokiness, cocoa, citrus and cherry.

Meanwhile at Curby’s, “we are working on co-branding with a coffeehouse-style roaster,” said Sparks.

Cliff’s has partnered with Ultra Coffee, a local coffee roaster in its market area, to introduce new and exciting coffee flavors.

“Through this partnership, we introduce a new flavored coffee every two to three months,” said Thurston. “This drives some additional demand and excitement.”

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter