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We love our friendly customers in Northern Beaches
Cafes are places of enjoyment, and we love them with their wonderful flavours floating through the air, with their comfy atmosphere and delightful snacks and sweets. But what makes a cafe truly good, a place in Northern Beaches where we like to return time and again?
As simple as it may seem, a cafe being basically a place where you can drink coffee (or take it away), the truth is that a cafe is much more, it’s practically an experience that, if done right, can enchant your senses – from your palate to your nose, from your eyes to your body comfortably snuggled in a corner.
It’s not easy to transform a coffee shop in a place of worship, where customers become regulars and show up with Swiss clock precision. According to statistics up to 60% of independent restaurants (cafes included) close in their first year of opening, therefore finding a quality cafe might not be that easy. So what is the secret? There are a few main contributors to making a cafe great, let’s take a look.
Quality of products
The coffee must be good! Not only the coffee beans matter, but also the quality of the other ingredients (high!), the brewing recipes (best!), the coffee’s temperature, its body, its flavour, the after-taste, etc. Once you taste it, you’ll know in an instant if that coffee is great or not, and that will decide your future behaviour as a customer (meaning if you come back or not).
There should be a various selection of products on offer for both the coffee and the other products (snacks, sweets). However, sometimes less is better.
According to statistics, coffee shops with actual food (even it it’s just a sandwich) are great so you can also grab lunch. A lot of customers also love the highly curated selection of good foods by the cafes owners. Customers want to find the nice and delightful foods quickly without spending too much time at the counter in a coffee shop. Customers want to trust cafes that are stocking trending and delicious foods ready for them to enjoy.
Quality of staff
Good baristas are key! And this is not just about knowing to brew coffee, but also about attitude towards customers, mood, body language. A good barista can be a brand and he/she can be a point of attraction in his/her own right.
Service is paramount in a coffee shop (as in other similar enterprises), and a savvy barista will know how to handle a difficult customer or how to alleviate disaster. Attention to details is important, speed is too, but not on the back of quality.
Quality of design
A quality cafe is also about great atmosphere, how the customer feels when spending time in the shop. Exterior and interior designs are important – does the coffee shop look tempting for you to step in? What about its interior? Furniture, colours, lights, music, little details?
Sometimes it is about something small, customers love to see unexpected mugs/glassware styled and chosen to fit the atmosphere of the cafe they are visiting on regular basis. These small things make people to come back.
When we talk about creative interior design, the sky’s the limit, but it must create a cosy atmosphere, a place where the customer can feel at home and welcome.
Other more mundane things are also important: a clean toilet, comfortable chairs, unlimited access to Wi-Fi (the latter one could be even crucial).
Ergonomics should be paid attention to: is the customer experience smooth from the order step to the last one when enjoying the drink? Is the working space well designed so that waiting time is minimised and the customer is promptly served?
All in all what makes a good coffee shop is a combination of high quality products, great customer service and unmatched atmosphere that creates a special experience for the customer to remember and come back again and again. Customer engagement is the key!
See our Northern Beaches locations here.
