咖啡是美国乃至全世界消费最广泛的饮料之一。美国人每天消费4亿杯咖啡，使美国成为世界上最主要的咖啡消费国。
电子商务和咖啡是相辅相成的。随着市场的发展--而且竞争越来越激烈--咖啡公司正在想出更多有创意的方法，将他们的产品送到网上消费者手中。《电子商务时报》最近采访了咖啡和电子商务专家，了解他们对成功的在线咖啡销售的看法。
"在线销售咖啡在流行病来袭之前就已经非常流行了，当然，这也增加了对所有在线商品的需求。"Metrilo的联合创始人兼CEO Murry Ivanoff告诉《电子商务时报》。他的公司是一家分析、CRM和电子邮件营销平台供应商。"咖啡鉴赏家们对自己的热情真的很认真，而且非常主动地寻找有趣的混合咖啡。"
特种咖啡的销售额每年增长20%，占美国180亿美元咖啡市场的近8%。由于当地商店的选择往往会受到限制，电商让消费者可以找到他们可能无法接触到的特色咖啡产品。
"由于超市里的咖啡从来没有什么特别之处，专门的在线商店很容易填补了这个利基市场，"伊万诺夫解释说。"咖啡爱好者确实会努力发现新的口味和供应商，所以在网上接触他们并不困难。此外，咖啡是一种经常购买的产品，而且是一种易于运输的产品，因此非常适合在线销售。"
随着流行病促使人们呆在家里，而不是去咖啡馆和餐馆，网上咖啡销售有助于填补这一空白。
"自疫情开始以来，我们看到的消费者行为中最显著的变化之一就是希望改善'在家'的体验，"电子商务平台提供商TrueCommerce Nexternal的销售副总裁Craig Ross向《电子商务时代》解释道。
"虽然我们已经在许多行业看到了这一点，但对于许多人来说，改善他们在家体验的最简单和最具成本效益的方法之一是以一杯美味的咖啡开始他们的一天。此外，许多咖啡烘焙商由于流行病的影响，他们的B2B业务销售量有所下降，因此直接在家中向终端客户销售是一个自然的演变。"Ross指出。
创意策略
与其他电商事业一样，成功的在线咖啡销售依赖于吸引和留住客户的创新策略。
"我们的使命是帮助客户发现好咖啡，"Bean Box的首席执行官Matthew Berk告诉《电子商务时代》。"我们区别于其他服务的地方在于我们的咖啡品鉴盒和专家策划，以及从我们由三十多个专业咖啡烘焙师组成的网络中采购一些世界上最好的咖啡。"
Bean Box的独特做法让公司能够策划客户的咖啡体验--这种教育服务通常在当地超市里是无法提供的。
"我们既不是咖啡烘焙商，也不是投递商，这让我们可以在同一产品中策划来自多个产地和烘焙商的多种咖啡，"Berk解释说。"我们的主要形式是采样盒，包含多种咖啡，而不是袋子，这种形式有助于我们的客户了解和发现他们喜欢的咖啡。"
成功的咖啡电商还必须利用新技术的力量来实现他们的使命。
"我们建立的是一个平台，利用专家策划、数据和个性化以及无摩擦的商务，将原本分散的本地惊人咖啡供应链与全国范围内的深L爱好者网络连接起来，"伯克说。
"在任何一个星期，我们都会策划、采购、接收、包装和履行成千上万磅的新鲜咖啡，这不仅需要我们对供应的端到端控制，还需要软件来管理这一切。他解释说："软件和运营让我们能够为体验进行控制，并确保当我们的客户需要咖啡时，无论是在线订购、通过短信订购还是在我们的应用程序上订购，都不会有任何摩擦。"他说。
其他类型的电子商务公司所使用的许多技术和设计策略都可以根据咖啡公司和消费者的特定需求进行定制。
"一个简单易用的在线商店，作为商家品牌的延伸，是现在的绝对要求，"罗斯解释说。"如果商家的网店速度慢、笨拙、看起来与品牌脱离，或者在其他方面难以使用，客户根本不会投入精力去下单。他们只会转而去亚马逊。
"除了网店技术，商家需要有令人信服的产品内容和图像是必然的。另外，顾客真的会对同行的评价做出反应。一定要有一个系统来捕捉和征求购买过的顾客的评论。咖啡需要新鲜，所以它还有一个额外的要求，那就是顾客在下单时要选择一个喜欢的交货日期。"
咖啡的电商进化
消费者已经习惯于在网上获得各种各样的咖啡，而且即使在流行病结束后，他们也可能会继续期待这类产品的出现。
"网上销售的咖啡肯定会留下来，"伊万诺夫说。"目标客户就是喜欢尽可能直接从农场购买高等级咖啡的便捷性。至于营销，随着竞争的加剧，品牌和设计越来越重要，以吸引人们的注意力。品牌故事也要有让人惊艳的地方。品牌背后的人需要有丰富的知识，才能增加价值--而销售可以很容易地通过订阅实现自动化。咖啡是一个非常适合按月订阅的产品。"
订阅，很可能会成为未来咖啡电商市场的重要组成部分。
"就像葡萄酒一样，这一切都与品尝体验有关，"Berk解释说。"我们的客户总是热衷于尝试新的咖啡，特别是那些具有引人注目的故事，或者是罕见或不寻常的咖啡。当市场上的其他咖啡店都专注于销售12盎司的咖啡袋时，我们已经将我们的产品系列和运营建立在单次饮用的咖啡袋上，让我们的顾客可以在一次配送中体验到2种、4种、8种甚至16种不同的咖啡。一旦顾客发现自己喜欢的咖啡，我们还可以给他们寄送更大的袋子。"
随着在线咖啡销售的增长，特色咖啡也可能会继续受欢迎。
"美国咖啡的未来是特调咖啡，特调咖啡的未来是在家体验，而不是零售。"伯克预测。"别人都在疯狂追逐成为'咖啡的亚马逊'的想法，强调品种的多样性，并在这个过程中复制我们所说的'超市的混乱'，而我们则剃刀专注于打造独特的在家咖啡体验，精心策划，让咖啡背后的故事与消费者相关。对我们来说，这就是未来：越来越周到、独特、难以接近的在家咖啡体验。"
咖啡消费者已经越来越多地成为咖啡行家，电商世界必须不断调整，以服务他们不断变化的口味和好奇心。
"我们现在正处于电子商务和咖啡的新常态，"罗斯说。"客户期望现在能够直接从烘焙师那里购买，这一点不会改变。最好的咖啡营销人员明白，在网上他们不仅要卖咖啡，还要讲述他们所提供的咖啡的故事。当他们做好这一点时，咖啡商不再局限于当地市场，并发现他们可以将触角伸向全国各地的新客户。"
原文题目：Coffee Sales 2.0
原文: Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the U.S. and worldwide. Americans consume 400 million cups per day, making the U.S. the world's leading consumer of coffee.
E-commerce and coffee go hand-in-hand. As the market grows -- and becomes more competitive -- coffee companies are coming up with more creative ways to get their products to online consumers.
The E-Commerce Times recently spoke with coffee and e-commerce experts to get their views on what's involved in successful online coffee sales.
"Selling coffee online was very popular even before the pandemic hit, which, of course, increased demand for all goods online," Murry Ivanoff, cofounder and CEO of Metrilo, told the E-Commerce Times. His company is an analytics, CRM and email marketing platform provider. "Coffee connoisseurs are really serious about their passion and very proactive in their search for interesting blends."
Specialty coffee sales are increasing by 20 percent annually and account for nearly 8 percent of the $18 billion U.S. coffee market. Because selection in local stores can often be limited, e-commerce allows consumers to find specialty coffee products that they might not otherwise have access to.
"Since coffee in the supermarket has never been anything special, specialized online stores filled the niche easily," explained Ivanoff. "Coffee lovers do make an effort to discover new flavors and suppliers, so reaching them online is not hard. In addition, coffee is a regularly-bought product and one that's easy to ship, making it perfect for online sales."
With the pandemic prompting people to stay home rather than go out to cafes and restaurants, online coffee sales have helped to fill the gap.
"One of the most striking changes in consumer behavior we have seen since the pandemic started is the desire to improve the 'at home' experience," Craig Ross, vice president of sales for e-commerce platform provider TrueCommerce Nexternal, explained to the E-Commerce Times.
"While we have seen this across many industries, for many people one of the easiest and most cost-effective way to improve their experience at home is to start their day with a great cup of coffee. Additionally, many coffee roasters had seen their B2B business sales decline due to the pandemic, so selling directly to the end customer at their home was a natural evolution," noted Ross.
Creative Strategies
As with any other e-commerce endeavor, successful online coffee sales rely on creative strategies to attract and retain customers.
"Our mission is to help our customers discover great coffees," Matthew Berk, CEO of Bean Box, told the E-Commerce Times. "What sets us apart from other services is our coffee-tasting boxes and expert curation, and sourcing some of the best coffees in the world from our network of over three dozen specialty coffee roasters."
Bean Box's unique approach allows the company to curate the coffee experience of their customers -- an educational service that's not typically available in the local supermarket.
"We're neither a coffee roaster nor a dropshipper, which allows us to curate multiple coffees from multiple origins and roasters within the same product," explained Berk. "Our primary format is the sampler box, containing multiple coffees, and not the bag, and this format helps our customers learn about and discover what they like."
Successful coffee e-commerce companies must also harness the power of new technologies to achieve their mission.
"What we've built is a platform that connects an otherwise fragmented local supply chain of amazing coffee with a nationwide network of coffee lovers, using expert curation, data and personalization, and frictionless commerce," said Berk.
"In any given week, we'll curate, source, receive, package, and fulfill thousands and thousands of pounds of fresh coffee, and this requires not just end-to-end control of our supply, but the software to manage it all. Software and operations allow us to control for the experience, and to make sure that there's no friction when our customers need coffee, whether they order online, via text message, or on our app," he explained.
Many of the technologies and design strategies used by other types of e-commerce companies can be tailored to the specific needs of coffee companies and consumers.
"A simple and easy-to-use online store that acts as an extension of a merchant's brand is an absolute requirement now," explained Ross. "If a merchant's online store is slow, clunky, looks detached from the brand, or is otherwise difficult to use, customers simply won't invest their efforts to place an order. They will simply go to Amazon instead.
"In addition to online store technology, it is a given that merchants need to have compelling product content and imagery. Plus, customers really respond to peer reviews. Be sure to have a system that captures and solicits reviews of customers who have purchased. Coffee needs to be fresh, so it has the additional requirement that customers want to pick a preferred delivery date when they order."
Coffee's E-Commerce Evolution
Consumers have grown accustomed to having access to a wide variety of coffees online, and they'll likely continue to expect these kinds of offerings even when the pandemic is over.
"Coffee sold online is definitely staying," said Ivanoff. "The target customers just love the easiness of buying high-grade coffee as directly from farms as possible. As for marketing, branding and design are more and more important to grab the attention as competition grows. The brand story also has to be something wow. The people behind the brand need to be knowledgeable in order to add value -- and sales can easily be automated with subscriptions. Coffee is a great product for monthly subscriptions."
Subscriptions will, most likely, be an important part of the future e-commerce coffee market.
"Like wine, it's all about the tasting experience," explained Berk. "Our customers are always keen to try new coffees, especially those with compelling stories, or which are rare or unusual. While the rest of the market is focused on selling 12-ounce bags, we've built our product set and operations on the single-serve pouch, which allows our customers to experience two, four, eight, or even 16 different coffees with a single delivery. Once a customer discovers a coffee they love, we can also send them larger bags."
With the growth of online coffee sales, specialty coffees will likely continue to grow in popularity, as well.
"The future of coffee in the U.S. is specialty coffee, and the future of specialty coffee is the at-home experience, as opposed to retail," predicted Berk. "Where others are chasing wildly after the idea of becoming the 'Amazon of Coffee', emphasizing variety for its own sake, and in the process replicating what we call the 'chaos of the supermarket', we're razor-focused on building unique at-home coffee experiences that are thoughtfully curated and make the stories behind the coffees relevant to the consumer. For us, that's the future: ever more thoughtful, unique, and difficult-to-approximate at-home coffee experiences."
Coffee consumers have increasingly become coffee connoisseurs, and the e-commerce world must continue to adapt to serve their evolving tastes and curiosity.
"We are now at a new normal for e-commerce and coffee," said Ross. "Customers expect to be able to buy directly from the roasters now, and that is not going to change. The best coffee marketers understand that online they need to not only sell coffee but tell the story of the coffee they are offering. When they do this well, coffee merchants are no longer limited to their local markets, and find that they can expand their reach to new customers across the country."
