A problem of the independents

We are continually being told how difficult it is to be in business, especially the retail business and especially independent retail businesses. This is of course entirely true - it's extremely difficult and expensive to be in business in the first place with premises, staff, rates, insurances, marketing and product costs and that's before you've considered taxes on any profits that you do the make. With this in mind you have to question the thinking of opening a coffee shop on a street that already has eight coffee shops on it and a street that is only 200 metres long. You could be questioned for doing this but this is what 7 independents plus one large multi-national franchise have done on Queens Road in Leicester.

So how can you compete on a street with eight coffee shops when you're selling coffee? You can of course create a point-of-difference - combining your shop as a hand made shoe seller or adding a deli, creating convenient and hi-tech workspaces or providing outside seating etc - all credible and all likely to attract a certain type of customer with a specific need-state. Can any of the eight claim to have the best coffee? Probably some of them, probably some of them have equally great coffee. Probably all of the 7 independents have better coffee than the large multi-national franchise - the quality of the coffee is slightly irrelevant given the main issue (as I see it) with these independents.

CONSISTENCY, TRUST & RELIABILITY

The problem of the independent retailer in this example (Queens Road - Leicester Coffee Sellers) is consistency, trust and reliability. You cannot build consumer trust without providing a consistent product that consumers can rely on. Earlier this week having dropped my eldest two children to the bus I decided to park up out of town and walk in, avoiding parking charges and getting fresh air, thinking time and vitamin D - I planned to walk across Victoria Park with an extra shot skimmed milk flat white and a take out porridge. I wasn't worried about the porridge but the coffee was a must. The sun was out, headphones in and it was that calm lull before 9am when the trading bell sounds - or in the case of an agency when the phone-calls, emails, Microsoft Teams messages and meeting requests start pinging.

So it's now 8:07 and I walk past my first coffee shop - the Northern Cobbler - I like this shop as for over a year my middle daughter and I would grab a coffee, hot chocolate and croissant every morning as she started school later than her older sister. It was a ritual and wonderful time to spend with her before she moved to the larger school and would no longer need me in the mornings. The owner is also a good guy, an artist and craftsman and decent footballer (incidental but it contributes to me wanting to give him my coffee cash). Anyway, I did know they had shifted their start time from 8am to 8.30am but there was young student putting the croissants out and the door was ajar so I thought I'd double check - the student physically grew in size and could not blurt out quickly enough that they were closed, shut for another 20 minutes and implied by her body language that I should swiftly move on. OKAY! - Not what I expected but no problem.

On to my second attempt which was quickly thwarted as the lights were not even on in this coffee shop. My third attempt had loads of promise - a newly opened store called FRESCO with slightly strange astro turf signage - which is pretty much the perfect symbol for not being fresh - but let's assume it's made of recycled plastics for now. Anyway, this was open, music on and the chap behind the counter was super happy. "Are you open", "Yes" he said. "Great, I'll have a coffee please" - "Oh no, sorry - the machine has just been switched on and takes twenty minutes". "Okay. Bye".

Now, attempt number four, five, six and seven were null and void. I knew already that one of these did not open until 8:30am, one had actually recently shut down, one I don't think opens every day and possibly not before 9:30am and the other one is just a bit odd so it was never an option. So.... the one and only option for me to hand my cash to anybody in exchange for coffee on Queens Road in Leicester before 8:30am is COSTA. I have no real issue with Costa or the fact that it is owned by Coca Cola or that it buys its coffee at a relatively low cost per kilo - I just don't really enjoy Costa coffee or the dark coffee environment and I just don't want to give my cash to a multi-national franchise unless I have to.

So I didn't. I walked across the park knowing I would arrive at Six Degrees Coffee Shop on London Road in Leicester for 8:30am and knowing they would be open. They were open and they had porridge but it should also be noted that three other customers followed in after me - one wanting a bacon something or other "sorry, no bacon delivery yet" and the other wanting an iced drink of some wort "sorry, no ice available yet" and all of the leaving back through the door they had made the effort to breach without having offloaded the cash they had wanted to spend.

CONSISTENCY, TRUST & RELIABILITY

If you refuse to offer consistency to consumers then they cannot trust you to deliver or rely on your services and that means they will go elsewhere. There is a reason why the best operators open at the same time each day, with the same menu that is served by people who are wearing the same uniform. Consistency. Trust. Reliability. You cannot expect success if - as a retailer or operator within hospitality (or any business really) - you cannot provide a consistent service that your customers learn to rely on. When your customer no longer has to think about what time you're open or whether you will have the drink or food they want as they 'know' it to be the case - then you have a customer that will navigate towards you unconsciously, frequently and they will spend with you and invest in your product and service ongoing whilst bringing newcomers with them and spreading the word.

A call to arms (or coffee machines)

Queens Road. Wake up. Your customers want coffee before 8:30am and your sending them all to Costa who open each day from 7.30am until 7pm, who are owned by Coca Cola and apparently care more about those customers and their coffee than you do.