More retailers are opening coffee shops to appeal to customers who may not want to spend a lot of money, but still want a cup of Joe

All over the world, brands, ranging from luxury fashion houses to workwear, to banks, have opened coffee shops.

The phenomenon of retailers hosting coffee shops is not entirely new, like anyone who has been there before. Starbucks Inside target I can tell you. However, the number of coffee shops owned and operated by the brand appears to be creeping up. Ralph’s coffee owned Ralph LaurenIt opened in Manhattan in 2014 and is now adjacent to Blue. box At the cafe Tiffany &Co. , Capital One Café, Uniqlo Coffee around the 5th Avenue location. (And it doesn’t include it Branded Restaurant. )

After Covid, interest in preserving or establishing “third place” has revived. This refers to where you spend time outside the home and work at the same time as your brand aims to expand its customer base online and offline by investing in the customer experience. Coffee shops seem to work to satisfy both parties.

SIP, SIP, Pass

Earlier this year, Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo opened a coffee shop at its Fifth Avenue store to “enhance the shopping experience” for its customers and project Uniqlo’s North American Marketing Director Nicholas Sesso.

“It’s a great branding proposal for us,” Sessotto said. “It’s a global flagship, so for us, it’s a global opportunity to continue to spread our brand (awareness) to our customers around the world.”

Uniqlo has an existing coffee shop in Tokyo, and Sesso said customer experience and hospitality are cultural priorities. Other retailers, such as French fashion brand Maison Fox, also began their coffee trips in Asia when Okayama’s first cafe fox opened in Japan in 2013. Earlier this year, Japanese lifestyle brand Muji opened a food market in Manhattan.

It’s not just brands that are expanding their international hospitality offerings. American brands Kate Spade and Coach are experimenting in hospitality spaces in Dubai and Jakarta, Indonesia, respectively, but the coach has opened coffee shops in Texas and New Jersey.

Beyond By reaching new customers around the world, branded coffee shops now allow retailers to reach customers across a range of interests, including those who may not want new clothes but who want a cup of Joe. That seems to be an important reason why high-end brands like Dior and Ralph Lauren are opening cafes. In particular, you may not be able to spend a lot of money on your wallet, particularly to contact customers outside of the regular demo, or you may not be able to justify a $7 iced latte.

“Even if you can’t buy a product, the opportunity to engage with your brand from a lifestyle perspective is giving people the opportunity to engage with your brand,” said Michelle Baumann, VML’s Commerce Chief Strategy Officer.

That being said, small purchases like coffee can increase the “residence time” for customers. “The longer you get into (the store), the more likely you are to browse, the more likely you are to buy,” Bauman said.

And it seems likely that it will be posted. Canadian clothing brand Aritzia has been running an in-store A-OK cafe since 2018, with customers often sharing videos and images drink token Online, Baumann pointed out. said Daniel Bouleaude, chef at Tiffany & Company’s Blue Box Cafe. Food & Wine Earlier this year, he said, “On today’s social media, (cafes) are even more appealing.”

“(The Café) does a lot in terms of amplification and a lot in terms of being able to create the fairness that has been acquired,” Bauman said. “There’s an Instagrammable space and a lot of social media exposure.”

After opening a coffee shop on 5th Avenue, Cessot said Uniqlo saw content generated by many users about Tiktok and Tiktok locations. Instagram.

“We are encouraging people to create and generate more content, so we can continue to spread the news and spread brand awareness across the country,” he said.

“How do you personify a brand?“

Whether it’s a YSL cafe in Paris or an IKEA cafeteria, all unified objectives within it seem to be a desire to enhance the customer experience, Bauman said.

That’s certainly true at Capital One, which opened its first Capital One cafe in 2014, says Jennifer Windbeck, SVP of Retail Banking Channels and Operations, which is inspired by the insights that customers place emphasis on face-to-face interactions, focusing on customer service and money management needs.

“The cafe has a major purpose that is not just basic bankers,” Windbeck said. “It’s about ‘How do you personify a brand?’

Capital One currently operates more than 60 cafes across the country in metropolitan areas, with the latest updates opened earlier this month in New York’s Soho district. Within the cafe, the brand holds events ranging from coding classes to financial literacy workshops. Windbeck said it helped to build Capital One brand image as more than just a credit card company. Capital One Cafés is also running a promotion aimed at promoting repetitive pedestrians, including those where visitors get free drinks every Monday during the MLB season.

The ultimate goal is to drive customer sign-ups, but Windbeck said the cafe (and deals) is for everyone, not just one capital customer. By providing facilities like free Wi-Fi, capital can sell to the masses in a “very intentionally non-selling” and “organic way,” she said.

Light roast in front?

With many benefits, opening a coffee shop can be a costly effort when considering labor and ingredients. (They said that neither Uniqlo nor capital disclosed operating costs, or whether the cafe is a revenue generator, would be considered a sign of capital for the outcome.)

There is also a risk of reputation. Perhaps in addition to getting roast Like beans Bauman noted that branded coffee shops can be a threat to the brand’s image if the location does not provide the right level of service. That’s especially true if the coffee is not free.

“If the service is inadequate, if people are waiting for a long time, all of a sudden, it will actually undermine the overall shopping experience,” she said.

For help in those aspects, some retailers choose to work with existing coffee brands, such as Verve Coffee, Capital One’s coffee partners. La Colombe served at Ralph. AllPress has worked with Carhartt Patagonia To help Secure it Product quality. But like any other business, partners could be at risk, Bauman said he cites Ralph’s growing reputation as a tourist destination.

Still, she said she hopes more brands will join the trend. In particular, it serves as a way to showcase novelty and surprise customers with additional offerings. If nothing else, visitors to these stores will know for sure. No one is going to ask them to leave their coffee cups at the door.

This report was It was originally published by Marketing Brew.