Our office is in Burnsville, MN and right across the street is the best little coffee shop around. Each week Jennifer, my project manager, and I meet at the Buzz Coffee and Cafe before the sun comes up to work on the business (as opposed to in it). We have been going there for years, and really enjoy the atmosphere and the staff. This Wednesday the owner asked me an interesting question.
How can I allow my customers to order and pay over their phones?
I instantly thought of an article I read about CoffeeGroundz using its Twitter Account to handle at least the ordering part. According to the article, the business doubled its customers. With more than 10,000 followers, I believe it. Once again it is proof that you get what you put into your social media marketing program. Our sites help to get the infrastructure in place, but you still have to work it (we can help).
The coffee shop manager asked about mobile application development, I know that is possible, this is route Domino’s Pizza went. Application development can be expensive. It would seem the best solution for a small coffee shop would be a pay-per-transaction platform.
GrubHub does this, though I am not sure if it is a perfect match and not sure if they yet serve the Twin Cities. You can read more about them on their site – GrubHub. I also came across CityMint which looks promising.
If, like the Buzz Coffee and Cafe, you are are already running WordPress (which is the core of our sites), we might be able to put together a package with a few things to jump start your site as well:
- Online Planning Worksheet – To provide guidelines to keep your messaging focused and your calls to action clear
- Editorial Calendar – To strategize on the types of posts you could be making, the sources of the content, syndication possibilities and SEO planning
- Set up content streams so you can easily keep updates flowing
- SEO Prep – Out-of-the-box WordPress is great but there are a few essentials most businesses should add.
Great article Jason, This question has been asked by many coffee shops. There are a number of ways to accomplish this if the store utilizes a Point of Sale system. For example, we have an interface with mobile text messaging and / or online ordering. Most of these companies will run about $70 a month for the service. There are some other methods of using phone / mobile and a POS with prepaid cards to accomplish this as well.
Mike