Interview: Victoria Cozens Shares How To Pre-Sell Coffee To Help With Cashflow

Perky Blenders Coffee Roasters is running a unique loyalty program campaign for their coffee shop. Victoria shares how they’re using it to survive COVID-19.

Have you ever seen a coffee shop pull off a “membership” for in-store customers as a loyalty program?

Not monthly coffee bean subscribers, but regular people who come in and get lattes, black coffee, or pastries.

I’ve seen a few examples, but they rarely seem to work out very well. We even considered the strategy when I used to manage Yellow House Coffee, but the numbers didn’t add up

That’s why, when I learned about the Perk It Forward campaign by Perky Blenders Coffee Roasters, I had to learn more.

I got in touch with one of the company’s co-founders, Victoria Cozens, and asked her about how she’s using a pay now, save later program to help with cashflow and generate customer loyalty during the COVID-19 crisis.

It’s Like Crowdfunding For A Coffee Shop

Companies that use Kickstarter need the cash now to make their dream happen. So to get that cash, they offer potential customers a big discount on a product they want.

• The company can make their product
• Customers save money

For Perky Blenders, they aren’t trying to launch a new product – they just need cashflow to keep the business running while traffic is down.

• Perky Blenders can keep the business running
• Customers can save money

It’s like buying a Groupon or bulk discount. It’s a great deal for customers who know they’ll use their rewards eventually.

Micro-Interview: Victoria Cozens

I reached out to Victoria on LinkedIn and she was gracious enough to offer some insight into how the campaign is going.

What was the inspiration for the ‘Perk It Forward’ campaign?

Our shops have been hit hard: one closed, the other 3 are open but experienced a dramatic drop in footfall. 

We didn’t immediately look at crowdfunding but found that the Mayor of London was supporting Covid crowd funding campaigns and when we looked in to a bit more we realized that this is not just about us it’s hugely about our our customers. 

So they were really our inspiration. Helping us, and in return we reward the best way we know how…with coffee!

How is front-loading those sales instead of waiting for them to happen naturally helping in your overall covid survival strategy?

Obviously there is no doubt the funds help with the deficit (April alone was -45k) but overall it is about building loyalty for the long term. 

Times are changing and it’s not over yet. There is going to be a significant recovery period. We will need ongoing support from our customer community.

Do you think this “pay now, save later” model of customer loyalty is something you’ll continue to experiment with down the road?

Yes, it’s actually something we have considered before Covid. We have looked at membership models to give customers the options to buy upfront in exchange for a significant saving in the long-run. 

We already offer savings for online bagged coffee sales when buying subscriptions upfront, and it made sense to try it in-store too.

We successfully implemented out 6 week coffee club home delivery and offered a saving of £9 with free delivery. We will definitely keep developing this type of loyalty.

Any other tips for other coffee shops who are looking for creative ways to maintain cashflow?

What else can you sell? One of our stores we changed overnight in to an essentials corner shop. 

Over the last few months we have sold many kilos of flour, yeast, pasta, rice, local honey, eggs and thankfully we have an alcohol licence for takeout so beer and bottled cocktails have been very popular.

? A huge thanks to Victoria for giving us a peek behind the curtain!

Think this is a strategy your shop can adopt?

I’d love to hear if it sparks any ideas. Let me know 🙂