Issaquah Coffee Company Makes Big Moves with Mobile Orders

Meet Issaquah Coffee Company

Outside of Seattle, WA nestled at the foot of the Cascades, Issaquah Coffee Company is anything but corporate coffee. This cozy cafe's totes espresso drinks inspired by the nearby mountains, locally roasted coffee beans, and food items sourced fresh from local suppliers. 

We sat down with Mike Swingle, owner of Issaquah Coffee Company, to learn about how prioritizing mobile orders with a second espresso machine helps them better compete against corporate giants.

Coffee. Community. Convenience.

In 2019, Issaquah Coffee Co. owner Mike Swingle was looking for a solution to compete with Washington's coffee giant Starbucks. His cafe is the perfect spot to settle in for a while, with it's cozy fireplace, heated patio, and comfy couches.  However without a drive-thru, in a town full of commuters, Mike knew he was missing out on a ton of potential revenue. 

"At that time, I learned that 30-40% of Starbucks' revenue was through their mobile app," Mike told us. "Immediately I thought, how can we compete?" 

Looking for an option to offer his customers more convenience he found joe. "I really liked the business model, being built specifically for independent coffee shops", Mike told us. Adding the technology to their cafe, and with a single marketing email, Mike introduced joe to all of his customers and orders rolled through. Customers loved the chance to support their community coffee shop, and even on the go. 

Collectively Creating Loyal Customer

Through simple evergreen marketing like adding an order ahead link to their website, and mentioning joe in their monthly newsletter, Issaquah Coffee easily spread the word. 

Now, joe's automated marketing engine brings those customers back in more often, attracts new customers from the joe network, and increases monthly spend per customer.

Monthly, Issaquah Coffee Company has more than 500 customers actively ordering at their shop and 1/3 of those customers are new joe users, or found Issaquah through the joe network.

Issaquah Coffee Company is consistently doing $15k monthly revenue through joe, with 1/3 of that revenue attributed to joe automated marketing efforts. 

Two espresso machines are better than one

Ordering ahead has become a habitual part of Issaquah Coffee customers' routine, and an integral part of Issaquah Coffee's business. So Mike Swingle made a big change to their workflow to prioritize the barista efficiency behind the bar, and open up even more opportunity for growth.

"We installed a second espresso machine in shop and dedicated it to serving mobile orders only," says Mike. 

With this new set up, barista's serving joe orders can prioritize an efficient and trustworthy pick-up experience for their most frequent customers, while baristas serving in-person customers can focus on the in-cafe customer experience. 

"We're consistently doing 20% of the cafe's revenue through joe" says Mike. "So dedicating a barista and a part of the workflow to mobile orders makes the entire cafe more efficient, and really more enjoyable for the baristas." 

Investing in creating a more convenient experience for their customers and a more efficient workflow for baristas is allowing Issaquah Coffee Company to go head to head with coffee giants in their town. 

See how joe can easily integrate in-person and digital orders in your shop, automate marketing on your behalf, and acquire new customers who would otherwise settle for corporate coffee.