How joe Point of Sale helped The Wandering Bean Grow

Meet Megan Bondurant, the enterprising owner of The Wandering Bean in Hillsboro, MO. For 3 years, she had a dream of owning a coffee shop and in 2022, she took the plunge into entrepreneurship. She convinced her friend, Morgan, to leave her retail career path and join her "coffee dream bandwagon".

Initially, The Wandering Bean was intended to be a mobile trailer, due to low overhead and the ability to park at a desired location. Megan planned on locating her trailer outside of a local church, which was an ideal spot in town. However, the hurdles of renovating a trailer quickly outweighed the benefits, and the mobile trailer outside of the church quickly shifted to a brick and mortar location inside the church. The Wandering Bean was born, and opened its doors in August 2022.

Morgan E. (left), Manager and Megan B. (right) Owner

Why Joe Point of Sale?

When Megan was considering point of sale systems, she knew she wanted mobile ordering to differentiate her shop from competitors. She originally planned on using Square and potentially creating a white label app. However, after some research, she stumbled upon Joe Point of Sale that fully integrated in-person and digital orders, included built-in rewards, and automated her marketing. "It was too good to be true!", Megan said. "It was exactly what I needed for my coffee shop!"

In a brief conversation with Joe, she got to see how Joe Point of Sale does all the backend work, including digital storefront and menu build, and the team even connected her with other industry suppliers like Tiki Breeze. As a new coffee shop owner, she was sold.

Coffee wasn't convenient, until The Wandering Bean

Hillsboro is located about 40 minutes outside of St. Louis, with many commuters but few coffee shops. "The nearest Starbucks is at least 20 minutes away, and there were many customers who, prior to us, would drive that daily for their coffee," Megan shared. There was definitely an appetite in her town for a local, convenient coffee shop. When The Wandering Bean opened its doors, community members were thrilled.

Their location is prime for commuters going into St. Louis, their coffee is a superior product, and their service is impeccable. Thanks to Joe's built-in mobile ordering paired with a dedicated parking spot in their lot, The Wandering Bean quickly became a local favorite.

"When we first opened, we had faithful Starbucks customers thank us, saying 'Our town has needed this coffee shop, and you have made it so convenient that I don't need to go anywhere else!'"

The Results

Beyond the customers' positive feedback, The Wandering Bean's success speaks for itself. The Wandering Bean averages $18,000 in monthly revenue, processing more than 2,000 orders per month, and baristas earn more than $2,200 in tips.

Nearly 30% of The Wandering Bean's customers have converted from in-person to mobile users, a conversion rate that rivals industry benchmarks set by Starbucks. With more customers ordering on the app, Joe's automated marketing engine can re-engage Megan's customers and drive repeat purchases. Megan says, "Even just the marketing side makes 100% sense. They do all of the customer re-engagement and automated marketing for us." In fact, $5k+ of their monthly revenue is attributed to Joe's loyalty marketing, and it's earned all without Megan having to lift a finger.

Megan's Advice for New Coffee Shop Owners

We asked Megan what advice she would give to new coffee shop owners considering Joe, this is what she had to say: "When I opened a coffee shop, I made two of the smartest investments: the first is Morgan, my manager, and the second is Joe." she explained. "Choosing Joe as your point of sale is 100% a no-brainer. Our shop would not have the sales that we have and the month-over-month growth that we have if it were not for Joe. The commission is worth it, and our business would not be where it is today without using Joe."

Ready to take the grind out of opening, running, and growing your coffee shop like The Wandering Bean? Get started with Joe Point of Sale today and experience the difference for yourself.