As part of a five part series, we’re delving into the process of opening and maintaining a successful cafe. We will look at:
- Finding The Right Audience For Your Cafe
- Cafe Interior Design: Using Colour and Decoration
- How To Select Your Ideal Cafe Furniture
- How To Choose The Best Cafe Layout
- Cafe Decoration: Adding The Finishing Touches To Your Cafe
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If you are wanting to run a successful coffee shop or tea room, it’s vital that you know your audience and what type of cafe customer you want to attract. You will not be able to cater and appeal to everyone, so it’s essential to create an experience that your desired customer will appreciate and return to in the future.
There are a number of factors that you need to consider when choosing a target audience, including:
- Demographics; e.g. age, location and income.
- Psychographics; e.g. attitude, aspirations and values.
- Behaviour; e.g. hobbies, spending habits and digital behaviour.
In this guide, we will take a look at three types of cafe customers you might want to focus on and what will attract them to choosing your cafe and returning in the future.
Cafe customer examples
There are many types of people that would be interested in visiting a cafe, with each of them looking for specific requirements. Here are some examples of potential cafe customers and some key points about them:
Retirees
The retirement age in the UK is 66, and they often have the most free time out of any age group. For customers in this age bracket, they will look for places that are comfortable rather than aesthetically pleasing. They also usually go to cafes in groups of two or four, so it’s important to cater to seating areas that are made for multiple people.
20 – 30 year olds
Young people are more inclined to go to a place that looks interesting and has decor that is aesthetically pleasing and uncluttered, as they are not too focused on comfort. People in this age bracket may be looking for an ‘experience’ or theme where they go to socialise, so having a unique look in your cafe would attract customers in this age range.
20 – 30 year olds typically meet in small groups, so having seating that can fit a group of people is necessary. Also, this age group is heavily digitally influenced, so having free wifi, as well as space for mobiles and laptops is very important. You may even want to consider an app for these customers to order from.
Business people
If your ideal cafe customer is a business person, you should consider a slick and sophisticated environment with high-class furniture to entice them to visit. Quiet background music is also of interest to business people, so that is something to keep in mind if you want to cater to them.
Having free wifi and table space for laptops is essential for these customers, as it is likely that they will be dealing with work on the go. Fast checkout is also important to this demographic, as they are more likely to be in a rush and may go elsewhere if they see a big queue.
Customer considerations
While you may have a desired clientele, it’s important to remember that your location has a big part to play in who is likely to visit your cafe – if you’re based in a busy financial district you probably don’t want to decorate for families. There may also be some crossovers between demographics, as both business people and 20-30 year olds have similar requirements. Therefore, a single design could attract multiple groups.
Click here for the next blog in our series on running a successful cafe.
Shop cafe furniture with Warner Contract Furniture
Warner Contract Furniture stock products that are built to last rigorous usage and can withstand the busiest cafes. We look to deliver your furniture as quickly as possible and always offer our furniture at competitive prices.
Explore our cafe furniture, or contact our team to discuss bespoke furniture and bulk order discounts.