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Q&A

How to make your customers stick to your coffee shop.

Hoffmann shared with audience his ideas on relationship between a person and coffee, then in a very lively at-
mosphere everyone discussed how to manage a café and how to make people come back or “stick” to your place.

How to make a bigger
I ndus t r y peopl e and profit and, at the same
customers do not seem time, attract more and
to follow the same way of more customers to small
thinking, we provided a independent coffee
big variety of coffee, but houses?
the guests do not buy it
that much. Hoffmann: I have two
Hoffmann: We cannot suggestions. Firstly,
make the environment
force people to think the more comfortable, so
same way as we do, and that your guests will ex-
do not try to change their perience only the best
needs. But what we can service, this way they
do is to make them enjoy will spread the word and
and a have pleasant expe- make more people come.
rience in our café, and due Secondly, you need to
to the warm and greeting have a rich menu, with
atmosphere make them a big variety of food and
trust you and people you drinks, not just coffee.
work with, baristas. Based
on this trust, customers
are more likely to accept James Hoffmann has already
things they do not know spoken on this topic in a special-
or understand and may ity coffee blog, he believes that
become more open to the people that work with high qual-
changes. For chain coffee ity coffee are always huge coffee
shops, it is more impor- lovers, and they hope consumers
tant to show the customer will appreciate all their efforts to
clear brand identity, which make coffee better. But the reality
includes special services, is so that even if you have the best
unique interior design, quality coffee, it still does not
strong brand image etc. mean that you have the strongest
At the same time, it is cru- voice in the industry. At the end
cial to have business and of the day, we all should recog-
development plan. nize that it is a service industry,
and the basic of the industry is
Famous chain cafés to bring the best experience and
focus on improving their service to the costumers.
coffee’s quality, does it groups are different, but, of course, improving cof-
mean that independent fee quality is very profitable for the chain shops, as Could you compare co-
coffee shops market is the gap between them and independent cafés will be ffee market in Shanghai,
going to shrink? smaller and smaller. and in London?
Hoffmann: It is very hard Hoffmann: Right now
to compare those two, be- How do independent coffee houses set prices? the situation in Shanghai
cause it is almost impos- Hoffmann: It is a bad idea for small coffee shops to do speciality coffee market is
sible for an independent big chain’s pricing strategy, because their markets are relatively close to London’s
coffee shop to compete or different, independent cafés cannot imply low-priced in 2010, the only difference
keep up with a chain one. and fast-sell model, because there is always going to is that coffee consumers
On the other hand, clients be someone who can sell it cheaper. here are very young.

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