Did you know that 78% of Americans say they drink coffee every single day? And 70% of Brits drink at least 2 cups of coffee per day! Caffeine fuels everyone from those doing the morning school run, to commuters headed to the office, to work-from-home freelancers. So it’s no surprise that in a survey by the Speciality Coffee Association, coffee came out as the most popular gift for adults in the USA with 64% saying they’d given coffee as a gift in the last year.
To fill all those cups, there are a lot of direct-to-consumer coffee brands online. The popularity of these merchants makes sense - customers want convenience when it comes to getting their daily caffeine fix. DTC coffee brands make it easy to have fresh roasted, high quality coffee delivered right to your doorstep. So, what better gift for a fellow caffeine lover than the gift of coffee?
When convenience and quality are the main factors in buying coffee online, the same applies when a customer wants to buy a coffee related gift. Today, we’re going to look at four Shopify brands that deliver that fast, easy experience for their customers on the hunt for the perfect gift.
#1 - Coffee Bean Direct
Based in Frenchtown, NJ, Coffee Bean Direct started much the same way as many independent coffee roasters; they were tired of choosing between stale grocery store coffee, and overpriced boutique brands. They wanted to set all the gimmicks aside and get down to what really mattered - making high quality coffee accessible to as many people as possible. That is, if you have the internet and a mailbox.
They make it easy not just to buy coffee, but to understand what it is you’re drinking. Even if you’re new to at-home fresh coffee, you’ll be able to appreciate what’s in your cup. So, it makes sense that they’d make it just as easy to purchase a gift and make it meaningful.
Starting with actually finding their gift card, Coffee Bean Direct makes it easy by including a link in their main shop menu.
The menu is uncluttered and straightforward, so customers can find the gift card wherever they are on the store. Then comes the gift card itself - customizable, personal, and simple.
Customers can add their own details, selecting the date they want to send the gift card on, and then checkout fast. In less time than it takes to brew a cup of joe, you’ve got a great gift ready to send to another coffee lover.
#2 - Fellow
Maybe the most stylish coffee equipment you’ll ever own, Fellow offers sleek, design-led coffee making tools alongside a curated selection of beans. They make it easy to brew ridiculously great coffee in the comfort of your own home and look great doing it. From high-end grinders, to gooseneck kettles, to serveware and on-the-go coffee cups, Fellow makes for a classy addition to the countertop of any caffeine addict.
And they have a great gifting experience to match their products. Fellow puts gifting front and center in their store, adding a “Gifts” menu category with suggestions for different budgets, tastes, and occasions.
If you want to skip right to the gift card, the link is easy to spot. Their gift card can be personalized and sent straight to the gift recipient or to the original customer, adding a touch of that Fellow class to the process of buying and sending a gift card.
Fellow also offers coffee bean subscriptions powered by Govalo and Recharge, and these can even be sent as a gift. Customers can select the roast level, the number of shipments, and frequency of deliveries. The coffee beans are hand selected by Fellow, from a variety of coffee roasters from around the world.
Best of all? The subscription won’t activate until the recipient chooses to do so. They’ll create their own account, and manage it as they would any other subscription.
#3 - Future Self Coffee
Feel like your best self when you get that first morning coffee? Then how about investing in your best future self by grabbing some beans from Future Self Coffee? Founded by YouTuber and influencer Alfie Deyes, Future Self Coffee is an extension of his Future Self community focussed on making it uncomplicated to brew and appreciate great coffee.
If someone wants to give the gift of better coffee, Future Self not only has gift cards but simple subscription gifts that take the stress out of gift buying. From any product page for their single coffee bean bags, you can either select to buy it normally or send it as a gift.
Gifting should be simple, and this keeps things neat and straightforward. Rather than having separate pages for all different products, they keep everything contained and consistent. This makes it even better if a customer is browsing a product page and decides they’d like to send it as a gift. Equally they may not have realized they could send the product as a subscription gift.
The gift subscription will be activated and managed by the recipient, so there isn’t any need for the original customer to hand over an account or try to pause the first delivery.
#4 - Caravan Coffee Roasters
Based in London, UK, Caravan Coffee Roasters source green coffee from single farms and estates from around the world - from Ethiopia to Colombia. Their focus on quality, sustainability, and freshness is why they’ve continued to stay at the top of the London coffee scene since they started over a decade ago. This is in part due to how easy they make it for anyone to enjoy good tasting coffee at home - they not only sell coffee beans, but coffee pods for single-cup coffee machines.
So do they make it just as easy for a coffee lover to buy a gift? Of course they do! From their primary navigation, they make it clear where to find their gift products. When on the “Gifts” collection page, they keep things straightforward with just a few options. This keeps things focussed for customers, rather than confusing them with too much choice.
As well as a personalizable gift card option, they also offer gift subscriptions with a variety of options from whole beans to coffee pods. As the gift subscriptions are powered by Govalo, they can be sent on a specific date just like their gift cards. Rather than having to remind themselves to send it on the right date, customers can buy their gift in advance and know it will be sent at the exact right time.
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The market for coffee gifts is huge, but these examples aren’t just valuable to other coffee brands. Understanding how brands approach gifting in a competitive category like DTC coffee can give other brands inspiration and insight into how they can improve their own gifting strategy. Now that we’ve taken a dive into the world of coffee, who’s ready for a cup of joe?