Kalona Coffee House optimizes workflow + revenue with joe

Meet Kalona Coffee House

Kalona Coffee House of Kalona, IA joined the joe network after switching from another order ahead alternative.  With a small space and a large support from their community, a convenient option was a must, but other solutions compromised the experience in the cafe.

Read how integrating joe and their Square Point of Sale maximized Kalona Coffee House's existing workflow, provided a top notch customer experience, and gave a boost to their bottom line. 

The Goal: Offer Convenience and Quality 

Like most independent coffee shops, Kalona Coffee House is serving their community in a limited space which puts a strain on baristas serving and customers waiting. Bethany Adams, a manager for Kalona Coffee House shared with some of the pain points they were facing and how joe has helped.

"Our storefront is small -- and can get very crowded," so they knew order ahead was a necessity to keep the line moving quickly, and keep customers happy. "We had issues with a large amount of customers wanting to call in and pick up drinks so that they could be on their way faster."  

And while phone-in orders seemingly offered a better experience for customers on the go, in reality it was hurting their in-person experience. "This was really putting a strain on our customers in the cafe because they were constantly being interrupted by the phone." 

Ultimately, Bethany and the Kalona Coffee House team "wanted to bring back the welcoming coffee house atmosphere and make the environment friendlier to both the customers who were just popping in and the ones who wanted to come in and stick around".

The Tool: joe + Square Integration

Kalona Coffee needed a tool to better serve customers, keep baristas happy, and ultimately help them grow. The answer? You guessed it: joe. 

"The simple fact that joe integrates with Square is HUGE!" Bethany exacerbated. And  when asked about her experience working with joe since joining, Bethany positively shared just how user friendly joe is. "As a barista in the thick of a morning rush with joe we now have the chance to make adjustments to pick-up times, and keep customers informed of what's in stock." joe with Square integration simplified their workflow so baristas could focus more on the customer experience.

But added benefits didn't stop after the order was completed. "We have everything all in Square, including transaction reporting, and TIPS being combined. It is amazing!"  Even in their limited cafe space, Kalona Coffee House can now give customers a convenient ordering option with overwhelming their baristas or in-person customers. 

The Results: Growth made possible 

With limited space, resources, and staff, growth for a coffee shop can seem hard to achieve or even make owners apprehensive. However, maximizing existing workflows as Kalona Coffee House's did, opens up room for joe to help them grow through automated loyalty and marketing. 

"We have days where we're busier than normal, and then we'll check Joe and see that there was a promotional push for something, and it directly affected our sales." says Bethany.

Now 35% of Kalona Coffee House's monthly revenue is attributed to joe, with more than $3,500 of monthly revenue driven through joe loyalty and marketing. Customers love the experience, rating their baristas 4.9 stars out of 5. And baristas are benefiting too!  "We've seen a huge uptick in customers tipping, which obviously, all of us baristas are fans of," Bethany concluded with a smile.

With digital orders directly integrated into their existing workflow baristas are happy, customers are ordering more often, and business is thriving.

Calculate your potential growth when you integrate joe directly into your Square POS through our Growth Calculator below.