Why People Buy Coffee From Cafe?
The different buying decisions
To understand why people buy coffee from cafe (which can be expensive), we need to understand the three main category on why people buy, and they are:
We are basing the above on JTBD (Jobs To Be Done) theory. Read more about JTBD on:
The different reasons that you buy things is also known as a buyer consumption pattern. And with the digital age, we generally consume content prior to consuming the actual products, e.g. you search online for discount on the drinks that you would like to buy in a shop (say Starbucks) .
Emotional and Social purchase from a cafe can be categorised as a cafe visitor. Functional purchase are generally the coffee drinkers, and they are focused on either saving time or money.
One can also see all the different types of purchase behaviours in the user intent. For example, someone (a user) might search for cafe with wifi (nothing to do with the product) or ice blended coffee discount and got to the same cafe. The reasons that they are going to the cafe is very different but both will spend money in the cafe.
Learn more about the difference between visitors and drinkers and search intent below:
And if you want to chat with someone, bounce some ideas on your latest coffee venture, drop us a line:
Functional Purchase
Generally, when people buy products or services that are functional, they are looking at using it to save time and to save money. And that is the reason why when our parents go shopping for instant coffee, they will always compare prices and get the best deal.
To them, drinking coffee is functional, it is a morning beverage that can energies them and they want to get it at the best possible pricing.
Go to:
Emotional Purchase
People buy things because of a need and that need might not necessarily be obvious or functional.
For instance, why would people want to buy a coffee from the cafe below their office, when they can enjoy coffee from their office pantry? It does not save time and it definitely does not save money. The reason most people gives is to “get out of the office”, “get a breather” etc.
So, the reason that they buy products, have nothing to do with the product at all! That is still a need, not a functional one (e.g. thirsty) but an emotional one.
Go to:
Social Purchase
Similar to the emotional purchase where people buy based on emotion and the buying decision is based on how people feel, a social purchase is based on wanting to be rewarded socially.
For instant, office workers in the example given above go to a cafe below their office because they want to have a chat and office pantry is not ideal for a chat.
That is a social purchase. Once again, it has nothing to do with the coffee from the cafe. They go to a cafe because they want to have a chat.
Learn more about why people go to cafe, in this study, we showcase the two main groups of audience that go to a cafe and the various stats.
Go to:
Why people buy coffee from cafe?
In the JTBD (Jobs To Be Done) theory, people “hire” a product to get a job that they want it to be done. Using JTBD gives you a better perspective on why people buy your product or service. For example, there are many people that go to a cafe not intending to try any particular coffee.
They are there to rest/chill in the comfortable environment, buying a coffee is akin to buying a “ticket” to sit inside the cafe. In this case, their buying decisions is not so much about their preferred drinks, but more buying a drink that they can drink for a longer time or a very inexpensive drink.
So, in summary, people will buy coffee from a cafe because:
- Functional: They need a coffee
- Emotional: They need a nice place to relax
- Social: They like to sit and chat with friends
Go to:
Cafe Visitors | Coffee Drinkers
There are two segments of people that go to cafe. The visitor and the drinkers.
Cafe Visitor
The visitors are the ones that we shared above, they go there for emotional and social reasons, they have do not have any intent on drinking the coffee. They have intent to sit in a cafe, having a coffee happens to be something they need to do because they are in a cafe.
Coffee Drinkers
The other segment, the drinker, they are the ones that are interested in the different coffee drinks. And you can break down and learn more about the different types of coffee drinkers by studying the user intent. Below is a case study on Starbucks user intent.
Go to:
Starbucks User Intent Case Study
If you are keen to know the coffee product people buys, basing it on the user intent is the surest way to assess the type of coffee people are interested in from different cafes.
Download: Starbucks Search Intent Report
In the report above, you noticed that for this Starbucks, more people are interested in a Frappuccino than a pink drink (functional purchase) and they are people searching for the location (could be social or emotional, they just want to go to cafe). All these shows the intent of the buyer before they actually go to the physical Starbucks.
This is one of the most powerful way to study your competitors, your environment as your structure your own marketing on your target audience.
Go to:
Let Us Help you Build Your Coffee Business
Drop us a message below to tap on our coffee consultant Wealth knowledge in:
- Refining your coffee business concept to avoid industry pitfalls
- Planning the specifics of your coffee shop, such as location, menu, pricing, and branding
- Identifying and understanding your target audience and competitors in the speciality coffee industry
- Developing a business plan and financial projections for long-term success
- Preparing for launch, including legal requirements and staffing needs
Learn more about our coffee consultants and the events or classes that they are conducting.
Go to:
About US | OCM Profile
OCM (OnCoffeeMakers.com) was started in 2007 with the first webpage about coffee machines. And for a number of years, we focused on helping people find their desired coffee machine (we still are helping folks with that! So, if you are looking for coffee machines for office or restaurants - check out the link).
In 2010, we started getting enquiries on restaurant marketing and we start to help food and beverage brands with their marketing. Below are campaigns and events that we have done over the years:
OCM's campaigns: F&B Marketing Ideas by OCM
OCM's Events: F&B Industry events by or with OCM
Check out this restaurant marketing guide to learn more about the many campaigns and companies we have worked with.
Since then, we have also created many marketing workshops and classes for the F&B industry. Many of these modules are still running in tertiary institutions such as Temasek Polytechnic Skillsfuture Academy and also ITE College East COC classes, below are some snippets of our lectures and workshops:
OCM’s F&B workshops: Food and Beverage Marketing Lectures | Workshops - click to watch classes on customer journey map, JTBD and more.
So, if you are looking for industry practitioners to help you scale your coffee or F&B businesses, do drop us a message or book an appointment. Do also check out our various social media platforms on regular F&B and coffee market updates:
For regular coffee (F&B) related videos: OCM Youtube
For Daily Coffee Inspiration (fun coffee content): OCM IG
For insights into the coffee (F&B) industry: OCM LinkedIN
PS: For the coffee lovers, we continue to share coffee articles (and videos) and have also started a free coffee class section (with free online coffee training supported by coffee partners).
