Retaining Customers, Shopify Growth & Coffee: Brewing a Brand People Love
In this episode Nick sits down with Lorna Bruce, co-founder of The Bean Shop, to talk about building a coffee brand that customers genuinely love - and how they’ve grown a balanced business across Shopify, retail, and wholesale! From selling coffee “over the baby gate” during COVID to building an online store that keeps growing, Lorna shares what actually drives retention: exceptional customer service, strong brand consistency, and email marketing that feels human. In this episode, we cover: • The Bean Shop’s origin story (from art school to coffee roasters) • Why they supply cafés instead of competing with them • How COVID accelerated online coffee sales, and what sustained growth after • Bringing in-person customer experience to Shopify (chat + tone + loyalty) • Why email marketing is the retention engine (especially with subscriptions) • The real-life chaos of business ownership: firefighting + prioritising • Growth plans: new eco roaster + improving ops and capacity Mentioned in this episode: • The Bean Shop: thebeanshop.co.uk • Instagram: @thebeanshopuk • Want to sponsor the show or get involved? hello@winningwithshopify.com • Join the Growth Vault waiting list (Sept 1 launch): wwspodcast.com EXCLUSIVE WWS OFFERS: Winning With Shopify listeners get 20% off the first three months of Seguno Email Marketing with code WWS20: https://seguno.com/winningwithshopify Get a short, tactical session with insights on things like tax reconciliation, returns, compliance, and more - all led by experts from the tools top brands rely on. Sign up now at https://taxcloud.com/summer/ Join the bootcamp and elevate your inventory game: https://info.brightpearl.com/winning-with-shopify-holiday-planning-bootcamp Check out Yoast and get 15% off ALL monthly Shopify purchases for the first 6 months using code WWS15! https://yoast.com/winningwithshopify-exclusive/ Key Takeaways: 00:14 – Supplying Cafés: A Smart Coffee Business Strategy 00:34 – Starting the Coffee Business Journey 00:46 – Exceptional Customer Service in Action 01:37 – The Bean Shop Origin Story 03:20 – How a Retail Background Shapes Business Success 04:22 – Work for Others First: Learning Before Owning 05:58 – The Challenge of Digital Customer Connection 06:18 – Using Chatbots Without Losing Brand Voice 07:31 – What Great Customer Service Really Looks Like 08:18 – Embracing the Chaos of Business Ownership 10:22 – The E-commerce Journey: From BT to Shopify 14:43 – Where the Name “The Bean Shop” Comes From 15:11 – Building a Consistent Brand Visual Identity 18:38 – Telling Ethical Coffee Sourcing Stories 20:17 – Splitting Operations to Support Business Growth 22:42 – Maximizing Existing Business Assets 29:27 – Giving Free Coffee with Equipment Sales 33:28 – The Owner’s Role: Firefighting vs Prioritising 35:01 – What’s Next: Growth Plans & a New Eco Roaster Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/winningwithshopifypodcast/https://www.tiktok.com/@winningwithshopifyhttps://www.youtube.com/@winningwithshopify Join our newsletter: https://wwspodcast.com/ Proudly powered by Spec Digital, a world class SEO Agency and PPC AgencyBecome a sponsor: https://wwspodcast.com/pages/sponsorship
