UK independent coffee shops achieve highest scores

LONDON, UK – British consumers are ever-more discerning and unpredictable.  With so many coffee shops on the high street, innovation is no longer enough to attract and retain consumers and coffee shops now need to understand how their customers feel about their brand compared to the competition.

Ranking excellence gives an in-depth understanding of consumer experience, which is fundamental to strategic management and business growth.

Allegra CoffeeTrack reveals that independent coffee shops achieve the highest total excellence scores from coffee shop visitors and deliver most on customer-centricity.

M&S Café also ranks highly, particularly for trust, product quality, and products & range.  Waitrose Café and Gregg’s also rank highly for Q4 2015.

This reveals a changing dynamic in the coffee shop market as consumers look for alternatives to branded chains and seek a more personalised, unique coffee shop experience.

The results also show that coffee shop visits remained consistent, with approximately 60% of consumers visiting a coffee shop at least once per week over the three months in Q4 2015.

Costa was the most visited coffee shop, followed by independents and Starbucks.  The number of visits and average spend fell in the run-up to Christmas, with the average spend dropping from £4.34 in November to £4.25 in December 2015.  However, early analysis of Q1 2016 shows a rebound.

Allegra CoffeeTrack measures consumer behaviour on a monthly basis, with the panel tracking coffee shop visitor activity across the coffee shop market, including consumer behaviour and attitudes.

Results are released quarterly, enabling companies to benchmark performance and gain insight into their consumers.  Key insights include consumption patterns, brand awareness, demographic analysis, NPS, KPI ranking and excellence ranking.

Businesses that track how consumers rank them in terms of delivering excellence will generate the highest engagement, loyalty and commercial returns, forming a better emotional connection with their customers and gaining a competitive market advantage.