Improving Your Product Sales

Coffee connoisseurs are naturally curious information seeking people who are loyal, inclined to seek convenience, and easily connected to strong brand identity and reputation.
They are social individuals, considering that during pre-social media times, the coffee shop was where people gathered to socialize.  Today, while certainly still a social place, shops stand for grab-and-go, a place to hang, or a place for an out of office experience. Café owners understand that the coffee consumer experience starts with a great environment.

“Promote a warm, welcoming, and friendly environment, rather than copy the big chain style of self-promoting visuals, structural sameness, and regimented layouts. Unlike other service and retail businesses, customers can engage multiple times a day with a cafe or coffee shop, so make them feel like it’s a “home away from home” in your cafe with interesting and changing visuals, a variety of seating arrangements, and let the customer alter the furniture to suit themselves.” – Peter Baskerville on Quora

“This goes with Coffee”…Selling product in the coffee channel?
Some key points to improving product sales:
•    Branding message
•    Educate the consumer
•    Engage with the consumer
•    Stay True
•    Know your customer

Sending Your Message:
Tight branding, well-honed, consistent, and targeted product messaging is primary to making a strong initial impression, at both the retailer and consumer touch point, wherever, and whenever, they first find you. Creating messaging that represents your brand quickly, thoroughly, effectively, and works across the board is a superhighway towards sales. Make your first shot count.

Edu-tise:
Consumers are increasingly savvy and looking to your brand for education and information at all key-messaging points. Asking retailers who are willing to work with your brand and post in-store signage, and/or agree to product demonstrations given by knowledgeable product representatives, as well as smart labeling, all create an invaluable consumer-brand relationship faster and more efficiently than traditional advertising and marketing routes. Always consider how your product will be merchandised in the retail environment. Don’t miss the opportunity to boost your visibility and strengthen the consumer bond with information on how to connect with a brand personally via social media channels.

Be Responsive and Relatable:
Market awareness includes an ever-evolving demonstration that your brand is up on the same trends and information that your savvy, discerning, and adventurous consumers are.
Create and maintain a brand personality and derive your messaging in ways that show shared interests and concerns. Respond with innovations tailored to your retailers and your consumers needs. Following these guidelines will take you a long way towards becoming a reliable, relatable, trustable source for your customers, and contribute to brand loyalty.

Connect, Connect, Connect:
Understand how, where, why, and when your customer wants to connect.
Relating to your customer in the ways they prefer to communicate, and providing them with what they want, like, and need, is the ultimate in brand orientation. Being fluid and flexible in these areas, while staying true to your brand, makes for strong and lasting impact.

Be True:
Staying true to your brand, while building an open dialogue with your customer, takes careful attention. Consistency balanced skillfully with transparency, however, is well worth the effort and goes miles in creating a solid market foothold.

Don’t Forget Who’s Buying, Keep Your Finger on the Pulse:
Always keep an eye on who’s buying and consider the following:
“Millennial power: Retailers are not fully understanding the needs of millennials, who are expected to outspend baby boomers by 2017, according to executive search firm Berglass + Associates. This includes nearly half of respondents being unaware that millennials will outspend boomers annually within five years and overemphasis on online advertising to reach the younger demographic, according to Berglass.”- Candy & Snack Today

Try to keep focused on your vision, while maintaining some flexibility. It’s all hard work, branding, messaging, connecting, and selling.  Market research is key, however, spend some time, drink some beverages, and shop in your local coffee shop. While you are there, speak to the manager and ask them what sells, curiosity did not kill the cat.  Good luck!

We are proud to share that shortly after launch we were awarded the 2012 Coffee Fest –NY Best New Product in the consumables category.