BRITA Professional : While there are still some challenges ahead as operators look to rebuild their hot beverage businesses in the wake of the pandemic, for many outlets, priorities have changed. With footfall on the streets continuing to increase, the focus has shifted from recovery to the future – notably, how to maintain and encourage additional growth.
Recent research* by BRITA Professional found that 61% of hospitality operators believe the key to future-proofing their business is customer loyalty. So how do you go about encouraging customers to come back time and again, especially following lockdown during which the world and her brother trained themselves up as appassionati di caffè?
Based on insights from the horse’s mouth – that’s to say, the coffee shop professionals themselves – Steve Buckmaster, Director of Sales at BRITA Professional, has kindly shared four tips to help operators build customer loyalty and future proof their hot beverage outlets.
One: Enhance the experience
Forty-five percent of hospitality businesses believe consumers want an enhanced experience when eating or drinking out. That’s not to say they want service with a show, or all the bells and whistles that cost a fortune. What they’re looking for is something that they can’t make themselves at home, and because people have become accustomed to making their own drinks at home during lockdown, the bar has been raised. Now, consumers want a greater choice of hot drinks and increased information about the quality and origin of what’s on offer.
Two: Offer sensational service
As always, customer experience is key to not only encouraging and maintaining customer loyalty through word of mouth. It can also attract new customers. Some cafés offer loyalty schemes and others are investing in technology to improve their service. In fact, the BRITA Professional research found that 50% of hospitality businesses will be adopting innovative customer service tech in the future and 31% will invest in ‘IoT’ enabled kitchen equipment.
Three: Stay agile
The pandemic is providing constant change, with challenge after challenge; so it’s hardly necessary to say that if you can’t roll with it, whatever ‘it’ comes next, it’ll roll over you. Having said that, this new-found agility will pay dividends, in terms of future-proofing your business. The research found that 49% of hospitality businesses agree: responding to consumer trends, together with hiring innovative and creative staff, (46%), will be key to their ongoing success.
Four: Safeguard your quality service
What’s key here is to showcase how the unique combination of quality ingredients, tip top equipment and your team’s expertise, offer an experience that can’t be replicated at home. But when it comes to serving great tasting brews, well-sourced tea and quality roasted beans are just the beginning. In fact, some 84% of coffee shop professionals place unfiltered water as the most important factor for adversely affecting hot beverages.
Enhancing the water quality you use to make your tea and coffee is easy. Simply get water filters fitted to both your hot and cold beverage equipment. The filters remove impurities, which otherwise would have an adverse affect on the taste, appearance and aroma of your hot beverages. It’s vital to use the right water filters and replace them regularly if you want to keep your beverage equipment in peak condition and ensure your drinks taste great – every time.
More on BRITA Professional on Planet Vending, HERE
…and by the way: all research quoted is from 3GEM in collaboration with BRITA Professional (March 2021), unless otherwise stated. So that’s fine.
