There are three statistics that prove a coffee bean subscription commerce or best coffee subscription membership is a huge opportunity for coffee retailers, coffee roasters, and coffee suppliers.
- 64% of adults in the U.S. drink coffee every day
- The average American drinks 3.1 cups of coffee per day
- 79% of people in this country prepare coffee at home
These numbers aren鈥檛 about absolute volume. They鈥檙e about frequency. Drinking coffee is not a rare event.
Coffee is, without a doubt, a part of the vast majority鈥檚 daily routine. Buying coffee is not a one-time purchase. Far from it. Buying coffee is a transaction the U.S. public does constantly and repeatedly. Retailers have had proof of this since the introduction of the UPC code in the 1970s.
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That opens up an opportunity for coffee businesses to make folks鈥 lives easier and put those transactions on autopilot. And, as we wrote about previously, a coffee of the month club is an opportunity that鈥檚 perfectly suited to today鈥檚 consumer behavior and expectations. It delivers the quality and variety that third-wave coffee lovers want, and it鈥檚 a seamless experience that lives wholly online.
For coffee businesses that already have quality coffee beans on hand, it鈥檚 an easy decision to make. Learn how to start a coffee subscription business and integrate mail order coffee into your business strategy. To drive the point home, here are a few of the most stark and convincing reasons to do it.
Recurring Revenue
The best part about the subscription box business model in ecommerce is that it goes beyond single sales, or the one-time sales that characterize non-recurring transactions. By offering a coffee club membership or coffee bean subscription, you鈥檙e locking down repeated revenue. That鈥檚 revenue that you can accurately forecast鈥攂ased on growth and churn鈥攁nd depend on.
Even if your subscription requires no contract and customers can cancel at any time, they often won鈥檛. There鈥檚 less churn than you鈥檇 expect in subscription-based ecommerce models鈥攅specially if you鈥檙e delivering the goods on time and as expected.
Sales leaders and investor groups routinely prioritize monthly recurring revenue, or MRR, when they assess the health and future of companies, organizations, and teams. That鈥檚 because a solid or growing MRR means money in the bank and the ability to forecast sales and create accurate budgets. Both crucial to the success and growth of any business.
If your company isn鈥檛 working toward increasing its MRR, you鈥檙e at a disadvantage. Thankfully, as members of the professional coffee community, you鈥檝e got the perfect opportunity, mail order coffee, staring you right in the face.
Minimal Overhead
Your company鈥攚hether a coffee shop with a brick and mortar shop location, specialty coffee retailer, a coffee roaster, or a coffee wholesaler鈥攈as no problem acquiring quality coffee. That鈥檚 why you're in business. You鈥檝e spent your career building the relationships and processes that keep your coffee machines, shelves, and warehousing full of top-notch coffee beans.
That means the only things you have left to start a coffee bean subscription or a coffee club membership are a reliable ecommerce platform, online marketplace, subscription management software, 厂碍鲍听驳别苍别谤补迟辞谤, and packaging and shipping without any shipping issues. In the grand scheme of starting a business or developing a new revenue stream, these are small potatoes. An ecommerce platform can cost less than $100 per month, and packaging and shipping is around 10鈥20% of the cost of goods sold (COGS).
Overall, the net-new MRR you鈥檒l be creating out of nothing will quickly make the expenses you incurred a moot point.
Perfect Timing
There is an ideal confluence of factors for this business model right now: consumer buying behavior, coffee consumption habits, and coffee drinker expectations. All three uniquely position coffee bean subscriptions for success. Let鈥檚 take a closer look at each.
Consumer Buying Behavior
Over 70% of people in the U.S. shop online. That鈥檚 over 230 million people in this country alone. When you consider the approximately two billion people worldwide that shop online, the reach of ecommerce is so large it鈥檚 almost inconceivable.
Coffee Consumption Habits
We mentioned these coffee statistics at the outset of this post, but they bear repeating. Because they form the crux of the narrative of the recent coffee industry trends.
64% of adults in the U.S. drink coffee every day. The average American drinks 3.1 cups of coffee per day. 79% of people in this country prepare coffee at home.
When you consider these along with the previous numbers about online purchasing, it鈥檚 hard not to draw the conclusion that mail order coffee is lucrative.
Coffee Drinker Expectations
About 20 years ago, the third wave of coffee ushered in a new coffee consciousness. All of today鈥檚 best coffee roasters embody the principles of the third wave: sustainable business practices, a commitment to quality, and a dedication to coffee as an artisanal commodity. Every popular coffee roaster fits into this paradigm because there鈥檚 a ton of demand for their products.
While early artisanal roasteries are credited with popularizing this approach to coffee, the switch has flipped. Now the public sets the tone and businesses deliver. People want this kind of coffee, and they鈥檒l pay a premium for it. It's one of the reasons why it's vital to know how to start a subscription box business.
This expectation of quality and variety is perfectly suited to a coffee bean subscription service that offers a rotating selection of expertly-sourced and masterfully-roasted coffee.
Engagement and Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Engaging in the ongoing experience of recurring payment and delivery presents companies with a unique opportunity. They have a string of repeating interactions they can use to prove their value. And once they do that, rest assured, the customers won over will spread the word. This is one of the most valuable types of coffee marketing.
Engagement
The customer experience for any business is a series of touchpoints, or interactions the customer has with the company and its products or services. The more touchpoints you have, within reason, the more opportunities you have to make a connection with your customer.
Here are some touchpoints for a typical consumer coffee subscription service:
Visiting your website. Visiting your mail order coffee landing page. Choosing and purchasing a coffee bean subscription plan. Getting a confirmation email. Receiving their highly-anticipated (and beautifully designed) coffee subscription box in the mail. Unboxing it with great joy to reveal the artfully-arranged surprises inside. Receiving an email to rate their satisfaction. Hopping online to modify their order because they went back to your website to check out a new roast that was mentioned in their confirmation email.
Don鈥檛 look at each of these as links in some inevitable chain of chores that must be overcome to get a sale. See each one as a rare opportunity to strengthen your customer鈥檚 emotional and psychological connection to your coffee and your brand. The chance to get in front of a customer and prove their value is what companies pray for. With a subscription service, those touchpoints鈥攖hose opportunities鈥攁re built right into the business model. Take full advantage.
Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Now imagine you have hundreds or thousands of people engaged in a perpetual series of delightful and memorable touchpoints with your business. They鈥檙e going to talk about you. They鈥檙e going to go to your website during holidays and birthdays to buy a coffee subscription gift for their friends and family members.
Word-of-mouth marketing is a slow burn, but it鈥檚 widely considered to be the most reliable, most lucrative form of marketing. What makes it elusive is that you, as a business, can鈥檛 do it yourself. What you can do is everything possible to make your company, and interacting with your company, worth talking about. Or worth sharing an unboxing video on social media. That鈥檚 all you can control.
That鈥檚 why knocking your touchpoint marketing out of the park is so important. Every great experience you deliver creates a genuine advocate for your brand and your products.
Product Discoverability
The fact that there are more customer touchpoints involved with signing up for and maintaining a monthly subscription means more chances to nurture ongoing customer relationships. And that means that they鈥檒l give you more of their attention and actually listen to some of the things you say.
If a customer is familiar with your website (because you鈥檝e made it ridiculously easy to browse their stock, learn about their products, and transact), then they鈥檒l be more willing and able to explore your catalog. Navigating it won鈥檛 feel confusing or unfamiliar; it鈥檒l feel like they鈥檙e comfortably walking around their own personal coffee shop.
And, along with this, they鈥檒l be tuned into what your company or brand is saying. Got a new single-origin roast from the Philippines? They鈥檙e all ears. Wanna share something interesting about a grower or community you partner with? Go on.
You鈥檝e proven, with your seamless coffee subscription experience, that interacting with your company is a breeze. So they鈥檙e happy to keep doing it.
Give the People What They Want
What they want is coffee. High-quality coffee produced by people who are conscious of the value and uniqueness of the resources鈥攂oth human and agricultural鈥攖hat make up this beverage we all adore. And because they鈥檝e learned so much about coffee-producing regions, roasting methods, and flavor profiles, they鈥檇 also like to put that knowledge to work. That means trying different kinds of coffee. Oh, they鈥檇 also like a consistent supply of it because they drink multiple cups a day. Got it?
Well, no problem. Setting up a mail order coffee subscription option checks off every single box. And, thankfully, you鈥檝e got 90% of the stuff you need to get this stream of revenue up and running.
All that鈥檚 left is a coffee ecommerce platform, like 好色TVt, to make transactions and product discovery as easy as possible and some gorgeous packaging to make the delivery touchpoint memorable. Then it鈥檚 off to the races.
Frequently Asked Questions About Coffee Subscription
What is a coffee membership?
A coffee membership is a subscription box service for coffee where customers choose the kind of coffee products they have sent to them and how often - weekly or monthly basis.
What are the best subscription coffee clubs?
The best subscription coffee clubs are:聽
- Bean Box
- Crema
- Trade Coffee
- Atlas Coffee Club
- MistoBox
What is included in coffee subscription?
A coffee subscription typically includes coffee products, hot chocolate, teas, frappes, iced coffees, and more. Sometimes flavor syrups and non-dairy milks are included as well.