Cafes are not competitive enough? Don't let your feelings consume your energy.

Follow the caf é (Wechat official account vdailycom) and found that Beautiful Cafe opened a small shop of its own.

Perhaps a long time ago, cafes were set up for the purpose of recreation and leisure, but I would like to say that it is different now. Now the cafe has become a formal service industry, but the quality of service we provide has not improved at all. In my opinion, most baristas nowadays feel that as long as they are skilled, they can handle the sales of coffee. What kind of mode of thinking is this? Yes, it is true that the quality of coffee is very important, but I think the focus is not the quality of coffee, but the distance between people.

How do you say that? Now in this society, no matter Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, we can come into contact with a word, that is, humanization, to put it bluntly, is considerate, meticulous observation, understanding of the needs of others, this is humanization. The purpose of humanized service is people-oriented. When you slowly increase the pleasure of your customers in the process of service, the sense of trust will also increase. Suppose I meet you for the first time and you can be like an old friend. Who wouldn't like to go to your cafe? Everyone knows the truth, but the funny thing is that very few people have done it. In fact, there is only one main reason, that is, everyone's mentality is wrong.

Let me tell you my understanding, and you guys feel it.

I think the quality of coffee is the main concern of a cafe, but we are all wrong. The quality of coffee should actually be part of the service, and our focus should be on service rather than monotonous coffee. Humanization should not be served in order to sell this cup of coffee, but the quality of this cup of coffee should be included in the service of the cafe.

I do not know how members will interpret this paragraph, nor do I know whether their understanding will be different from mine, so do not rush to argue, I will explain it well.

Please let me tell you a short story: "these days I have been asking friends in some cafes, there are owners, baristas, managers, yes, they are all cafes that make boutique coffee." I said, "Hey, my friend, what will it go with when you produce Espresso?" Then a lot of people are confused, and the answers are varied. "if you drink Espresso like this, what do you need to go with?" A better one will say, "will it go with a tissue and water?" A small number of people will say, "I will have a spoon to stir." Then I heard all kinds of answers, and it was my turn to be confused.

Let me explain, this question is not funny at all for a person who comes into contact with fine coffee. I believe many friends do not know that Espresso needs several things. The first is filtered water, which is used to clean the mouth, preferably soda water. Second, paper towels, needless to say? The third is the spoon, which is not used to mix grease, but to mix sugar. Fourth, sugar, correctly speaking, sugar should be pure yellow sugar, put in the sealed jar, while the sealed jar is put on the bar, the spoon is used to spoon sugar and mix. Of course, it can also be accompanied by an extra cookie.

Why am I talking about this? Very simple, because most people, do not know, Italy, Melbourne and so on, foreigners who are used to drinking Espresso, all like to drink with yellow sugar. Mainly because foreign culture pays attention to efficiency, Espresso is convenient, fast and refreshing, but for foreigners cup after cup, it is easy to overdose caffeine, and sugar can help decompose caffeine after intake, so gradually, many foreigners like to add brown sugar directly to Espresso, which has become a regional habit. In fact, it is the same with sweet cookies.

Many people will say that this is China, not Melbourne, and the national conditions are different. Yes, but as we all know, Melbourne can be said to be an empire of espresso, recognized as an excellent representative, so since you make boutique coffee, why not do the same? China is also a powerful country, many foreigners come here, they drink coffee is a habit, you imagine, when an Italian friend into your shop, ordered a cup of Espresso, he will not wonder, you have a good called boutique cafe, why do not even have a simple equipment? Yes, I think since you are under the banner of boutique coffee, you have to be really good, even if you don't need it, you must have it.

You make coffee, want the public to accept high-quality products, understand what is high-quality products, then please be in line with international standards, please learn from the good.

This is service, and this is a small example that has nothing to do with the quality of your coffee. As a boutique cafe, we should think about the service and humanize the service, rather than adding some services in order to sell that cup of coffee. Therefore, it is very important to have a correct attitude.

We will like Japanese goods very much, we cannot but admit that Japanese craftsmanship is first-class, and we feel that Japanese craftsmen are very meticulous and meticulous in everything. A large part of the reason is that Japan's territory is not so vast, and the only way to develop is to "go to the extreme and do better than others." Therefore, no matter anything, anything, the Japanese like to peel off the cocoon, find fault, to improve, whether it is craftsmanship, humanized service, will bring you the most satisfactory experience. From another perspective, a boutique cafe is not only a geographical restriction, but also a craft, but also a service industry, why not learn from the attitude of craftsmen?

I often see people in some cafes saying to their customers, "the prices of other restaurants are so high, but they are not as practical as I am." Some people also say, "look at the low price of coffee in other restaurants, how can I have such a good quality?" Then the independence, war of words and price war between various pavilions began, and no one thought that we should co-exist together, compete with services, and set off the entire Chinese coffee market.

When we are talking about how to open a coffee shop and coffee shop industry, especially the coffee shop industry in China, the psychological and cultural perspective with feelings as the cornerstone is a problem that must be carefully considered before talking about the positioning, theme, location and marketing of coffee business. Because the success or failure of Chinese cafes depends on the word "feelings", our cafes have never been related to the coffee market and coffee consumption habits. Simply putting cafes into an industry or a model cannot explain the current phenomenon in the coffee market:

Why do the star-studded Chinese cafes account for less than 10% of the coffee market?

Why did Starbucks not cultivate a Chinese coffee brand in the process of cultivating Chinese consumers' coffee consumption habits?

Why can't Starbucks compete with Starbucks since its entry into China in 1999, whether it was on the island and carving time before it, or after the Cajun Family, Pacific Ocean and Korean coffee?

Why the American KFC brand, which entered China 12 years earlier than Starbucks, has always had Chinese food brands to catch up with it, nurturing and maturing at least a number of brands?

Jokingly, why the coffee at Starbucks and the maid cafe is so bad can stand, which shows the importance of service.

To boast, guests prefer to go to cafes with more friends than cafes with good coffee quality.

To put it rightly, the competition between cafes and cafes should not come from the price of coffee, but from the quality of service.

Related readings:

Symbolic Coffee Culture and Cafe

It is generally believed that there is no coffee culture in China, and the most basic judgment is that we have no habit of drinking coffee, even if there are many cafes in China. What is more interesting is that Yunnan, which accounts for more than 98% of the country's coffee acreage and output, has only 969 cafes in Kunming, the provincial capital, far below the level of many provincial capitals. Does coffee shop have anything to do with coffee culture? Does the coffee shop have anything to do with coffee production? We may be able to find more from global coffee sales and Starbucks' expansion.

In terms of coffee consumption, the United States is a high coffee consumer, but there is almost no coffee culture. Americans basically value the refreshing effect of coffee, and Seattle's location as the headquarters of Starbucks has something to do with the fact that coffee is standard for IT technicians. In Asia, Japan is also typical. Although Japan is famous for its tea ceremony, it already sells more coffee than Europe.

The lack of coffee culture does not affect coffee sales, and in Starbucks' expansion territory, it is mainly in the United States, Canada and Asian countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and so on. In places with relatively strong coffee culture in Europe, such as Britain, France and Germany, Starbucks has relatively few stores and is mainly concentrated in the capital. The most special is Italy, which is famous for coffee, but there is no Starbucks.

So don't talk about coffee culture. China has coffee culture, but it has been symbolized. When it comes to coffee, we can immediately think of petty bourgeoisie and Wenqing, just as when we talk about the Mid-Autumn Festival, we can think of moon cakes and reunion. Just like you may not like moon cakes but still eat moon cakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival, even if you don't know anything about coffee, you may still have a cup of coffee at the right time, but in fact you have no habit of drinking coffee at all, let alone the taste of coffee.

Coffee that looks beautiful, a cafe that is not easy to walk down.

Behind all the movies about coffee scenes, the prediction of the explosive growth of the coffee market and the relaxed smile of coffee shopkeepers with coffee in hand, no one has told you the fact that China's coffee shop market is basically monopolized by foreign brands. and running a coffee shop is really a thing for tuhao.

In the United States, Starbucks' market share is about 30%, and there are tens of thousands of cafes that survive and develop; but in China, Starbucks accounts for more than 60% of China's market share, plus Cajun, Pacific and recently popular Korean coffee. it basically accounts for more than 90% of the Chinese coffee shop market. Local cafes in China basically maintain the same frequency of switching shops every year, and most of them operate at a loss.

All foreign brands of coffee have basically gathered in China, in addition to Tuhao's real estate developers, the important backers are those catering groups with rich experience in catering and store management. On the third anniversary of Quanjude's listing in 2010, Quanjude made a high-profile appearance in a coffee teahouse at the Heping Gate store and introduced a classic European coffee brand. Xiaonanguo acquired ParknShop (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. in 2014 and introduced the Pokka Cafe coffee brand to the mainland. Then there is GouBuLi Group, which won the franchise of Colorado Coffee in China (excluding Sichuan and Shanghai) for A $6 million at the beginning of this year, a brand that has been developing quietly in the mainland for years. Regardless of whether these brands are really developing well, at least it shows that it is not easy to develop a coffee brand.

Therefore, at this stage, in the face of the fact that there are only a handful of cafes that can make money and want to open cafes, we need to have the ideal of cornerstone, and don't over-consume your feelings. don't open a coffee shop when you don't like coffee, don't understand coffee, and don't have time. At least you either stick to it, or you're ready to work hard to start a business. We do not need to follow the assumption that Starbucks' success is magnified by 1%, and the promotion of brand joining is a risky choice. Local cafes cannot be imitators of business models. We should regard ourselves as entrepreneurial projects that constantly try and make mistakes. With the innovative spirit and learning attitude of entrepreneurship, maybe we can see a different coffee culture.