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Sydney Kida | May 12, 2023 |
Coffee shops may traditionally have small margins, but one thing is certain: they also have huge demand. Estimated global coffee consumption exceeds 150 million 60 kg bags of beans per year. What’s more is, worldwide consumption is expected to grow annually by 4.47%.
So, despite a relatively low cost per transaction—consumers pay an average of $2.99 per cup of joe—the coffee industry generates major revenue. As competition grows steadily alongside consumer expectations for this beloved beverage, coffee technology plays a larger role in how providers innovate to keep up with demand.
“Technology and coffee are marrying,” says Paton Marshall, former area manager for Equator Coffee and product manager of hardware and services at Revel Systems. “It’s happening not only in the roasting area but also in the store. Customers want efficiency without sacrificing the relationship they’ve developed with their baristas.”
Today’s POS system is a critical tech component for any coffee business. Uniquely positioned to bolster coffee operations, POS platforms offer several tools and benefits for operators. The following blog post explores POS features playing a key role in the surge of coffee retail tech.
A great option for line-busting is the addition of mobile order takers. “At Equator, our building footprint wasn’t huge. Lines could spill onto the street pretty quickly. Mobile order takers allowed our staff to take orders directly at customer tables, which helped keep lines manageable at the counter,” says Marshall.
Still operated by employees, mobile order takers improve order efficiency while maintaining the personal engagement many café patrons seek. You can meet customers where they are and make sure no sale is lost due to long lines.
For establishments that are strictly quick service rather than a table service blend, self-service kiosks also help with line management and operational efficiency.
With kiosks, customers can place their orders directly without any staff intervention. Their order information then goes directly to baristas for production, which isn’t just more efficient, but also removes potential pitfalls for order errors.
In fact, a Forrester research report—The Total Economic Impact™ of the Revel Systems® Transaction Platform—estimated a $136,000 annual cost savings for one Revel client due to reduced food wastage through fewer order-entry errors.
Implementation of kiosks frees your staff to focus on other areas, like customer service, drink production, and merchandising. This coffee equipment also helps reduce waste and increase revenues through up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.
Business operators have access to more data insights than ever. In real-time, reports can showcase inventory levels, top-sellers, and even highlight instances of employee theft.
“In a coffee shop environment, there aren’t many moments when you’re reopening a check and modifying the payment on it,” says Marshall. “With Revel, I could easily spot irregularities and track these instances back to specific employees when they occurred.”
Detailed analytics offer valuable information on how coffee shops can minimize risk and maximize profits.
Speed of service is critical for coffee shops and cafés. Speed has a major impact on shop profits. It increases customer satisfaction with efficient service. It also prevents line peel—customers leaving because of long lines and leaving for shorter wait times.
A simple way tech speeds up service is with mobile printers that integrate with the POS. Able to apply order information directly from transactions to recipe labels, integrated printers eliminate steps in the order process and improve order accuracy.
Innovation and technology are a must in today’s coffee industry. Consumers have more options than ever for how and where they consume a cup of joe.
Fortunately, coffee technology can work hand-in-hand with coffee providers. It bridges the gap between new customer expectations and the traditions that make the beverage feel personal. “There’s nothing quite like working around people who are passionately involved in the product and the world,” Marshall says. “Coffee is a very small world—it’s like a family.”
As shops maintain their friendly service and personal touch, they can also deploy tech to streamline more mundane operations. When done right, technology is a service facilitator. It remains unnoticed in the background, making room for employees, and the product, to shine.
For more information on how Revel’s POS supports coffee shops and cafés, schedule a demo with a product expert today.
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