According to a NerdWallet survey, 222 million Americans plan to purchase gifts during this upcoming holiday season. Each consumer expects to spend an average of $831 on holiday gifts–including your coffee!
Will this natural increase in sales be substantial or enough to take your business to the next level? If you’re lucky, maybe.
Or, if you followed the advice we shared in Parts 1, 2, and 3 of this series, you’re definitely on track for a record holiday season. Now the question becomes, how do you manage this boost in sales without becoming overwhelmed?
In today’s guide, we’ll show you how to handle increased holiday sales with ease by:
By the end of this article, you’ll be ready to take charge of (and enjoy) a significant jump in sales this holiday season.
As sales increase, roasting and production processes also must change to accommodate the demand. Ask yourself, “Do I have everything in place to handle higher production volumes?”
Aside from adequate inventory, this means organizing internal systems including:
From wholesale orders to ecommerce purchases, make sure your entire team understands what processes are in place to roast, fulfill, and ship coffee orders and how to execute on them day-in and day-out.
Defining these processes ahead of the holiday season and reviewing them with your staff will ensure on-time and accurate order fulfillment. Take a moment to review your existing processes and button up any missing details. Refining these processes may look like:
As you work through these processes before the holidays begin, you may discover that your existing system isn’t entirely scalable.
For example, how are your customers placing coffee bean orders? Messages scribbled down with pen and paper, last-minute phone calls, and rapid fire text messages won’t cut it during the holidays – it’ll only lead to greater disorganization and confusion for your team.
Instead, a comprehensive and streamlined ordering system offers a multitude of benefits, including:
Trying to utilize different ordering systems for each sales channel will only cause confusion, order mistakes, and frustration. Opt for a system that can handle orders from wholesale clients, ecommerce customers, and your cafe managers all-in-one place.
Without a designated and organized ordering system, the chaos of managing holiday orders (including gift baskets, product bundles, and so much more) will quickly become far too overwhelming.
You already have internal processes in place for how each coffee order gets fulfilled. From roasting to labeling, these systems keep your roastery operating smoothly.
But what happens when you get a holiday gift basket order from a local company with 200 employees? Will your existing fulfillment process be effective in getting 200 gift baskets out the door on time?
What about your wholesale client who adds an extra 100 pounds of coffee to their weekly order because they have a holiday event? Are your current packaging practices efficient enough to fill, label, and ship an extra 20 five-pound bags by the weekly deadline?
Before the holiday chaos begins, take a look at your roasting and fulfillment systems. Roasting and production inefficiencies are the top cause of holiday season headaches. (And chances are, they’re causing you to lose out on profits, too!)
Analyze each process and see what inefficiencies or hiccups you can uncover. Then solve them! A few ways to solve these obstacles include:
You can also consider using software to track the progress of daily roasting and fulfillment needs. With this system, staff members can see the status of every order and know exactly what needs to be done… even when the holiday orders keep rolling in!
Whether you’re the sole roaster or you’re working with an entire production team, do you have enough staff to roast, fulfill, and ship coffee on time? Or will you need to hire seasonal workers?
Review your team’s typical output and compare it to your projected sales forecast for the holidays. If your team will struggle to keep up with demand, hiring seasonal staff can be a great way to offset a few headaches.
Along with staffing, your roasting schedule may need to adjust based on sales volume and labor needs. This may look like adding an extra day to the roast schedule or shifting employee hours to cover the additional orders.
Or, you may need to start roasting ahead of schedule. If you know big holiday shopping days are on the horizon, such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday, it’s helpful to roast best selling items ahead of time and give yourself a window of breathing room. You can also roast an extra batch or two on a Thursday or Friday to accommodate the mass orders that’ll flow in order the weekend. (Your team will thank you on Monday!)
All that green and roasted coffee has to go somewhere in your facility. One element roasters may fail to consider is the need for physical space as the holiday orders roll in.
Is your current building big enough to handle increased orders, an extra roast day, and all that inventory? If not, you might need to get creative.
Around the holidays, people want their coffee orders ASAP. (And we all know how complicated shipping gets during the holidays.) Make sure you have delivery and/or shipping processes defined for both wholesale and ecommerce orders. You can even put a banner on your ecommerce store and online wholesale portal reminding customers to get their orders in by a specific date, giving you a cushion for roasting and fulfillment.
These processes are two-fold: they affect both your internal teams and the customer.
For wholesale orders, make sure your team understands exactly how these orders must be packaged and delivered. Due to the bulk quantities, shipping and delivery requirements, such as box type and size, are set to manage costs and efficiency.
The same thinking applies for ecommerce orders. Your team needs to know what package materials are used and the processes in place to ship orders out in a timely manner. Make sure these processes are clearly defined for staff to see!
The trick to managing the holiday sales surge is to ensure that your operational processes, like green coffee sourcing and production scheduling, are ready to take on the extra demand. These systems are what keep your roastery operating efficiently and profitably. But without the proper preparation, they can fail you in a time of need.
Your biggest asset during the holiday season is your staff. They are the ones communicating with customers, fulfilling orders, and making sure everything runs smoothly, right alongside you.
Proper team communication is an imperative part of a successful holiday season. Remind staff that the holidays are chaotic and that the best way through is together. Encourage them to work together to maintain order, clarity, and organization across the roastery.
If you own a retail café, talk to your baristas about managing the increase in customers and drink orders by maintaining proper barflow standards and operational procedures. Additionally, consider adjusting the bar schedule to add a barista during prime hours each day.
Overall, the best thing you can do is remain calm. Leading by example shows staff that while the lines will be long, more tasks are added to the daily to-do list, and orders will keep rolling in, you’ll tackle it together as a team. The less flustered you are, the less overwhelmed your team will be.
To help keep baristas managing the influx of customers confidently, give your team (both in the roastery and behind the counter) clear instructions on how to handle different customer situations such as:
While the holiday season is supposed to be full of cheer, we all know what can happen when customers get upset. As your sales increase, be prepared to handle various situations from both wholesale, retail, and ecommerce customers.
But don’t worry! The majority of holiday customer interactions are pleasant and filled with cheer.
When communicating with staff, clearly state what your company’s refund and return policies are. Document these policies and place them where baristas can see them. Additionally, these policies must be made available to customers. If you sell coffee online, publish these policies on your website.
On top of developing inventory, production, and staffing systems to handle the surge in sales, you need the right tools by your side.
And we’re not talking about spreadsheets or a hundred sticky notes all over a whiteboard.
We recommend having these tools in place for the holiday season:
Your online store is one of the biggest assets in your holiday season arsenal. This store acts as a 24/7 sales channel and billboard for your business and works to manage orders on your behalf.
As the sales continue rolling in, make sure you check off these ecommerce boxes throughout the season:
While the holidays are in full swing, keep an eye on your online store analytics and take inventory of what’s working, what’s not, and what can be adjusted along the way.
Guess what? We built RoasterTools to help roasters with situations exactly like this!
RoasterTools is the all-in-one business software designed to help roasters succeed. From managing green coffee inventory to calculating roast production needs based on wholesale and ecommerce orders, RoasterTools is the automated sales and operations platform roasters rely on during the holiday hecticness.
Sign up for a demo here and discover how RoasterTools can help you increase sales and enjoy a profitable holiday season.
⭐️ Download our eBook, “The Coffee Roaster's Guide To Profitable Holidays,” for more tips and tricks on how to have a prosperous holiday season.
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