Background
Vote Coffee was founded in 2016 and has since scaled to serve multiple coffee shops, host coffee festivals, and create a thriving community of local roasters. With a range of custom blends and loyal customers, Vote wanted a B2B platform that allowed them to maintain high levels of personalised customer service while keeping up with their ambitious growth plans.
The challenge
Accessibility to quality coffee is one of Vote’s driving values - and that extends to their online ordering experience. The business started as a wholesale brand, selling coffee in person to local cafés in Germany. As they began to build out a community and run coffee events and festivals, it was becoming increasingly clear that they needed an online wholesale ordering platform.
They began selling on Squarespace before moving to Shopify as it better matched their requirements around European and German tax laws. To unlock enhanced B2B features, they began researching apps that could layer over their existing setup. Enter SparkLayer.
The company had experienced some limitations around flexible pricing, including discounts based on order volume and pricing tiers. They had complex customer agreements in place, so a system offering that level of personalisation was essential.
Due to the way that the business began, a number of Vote’s customers prefer to order over the phone or via email. The team needed a way to manage these orders manually with minimal room for error while ensuring the correct prices and discounts were applied for each customer. As a small team, keeping processes streamlined and speedy is of the utmost importance.
The solution
SparkLayer’s flexible pricing setup has enabled Vote to build price lists for each of their customer groups. This ranges from loyal buyers (including the café where they first started roasting!) to newer customers and coffee shops.
In addition, Vote has used SparkLayer’s Discount Engine to assign relevant discounts, again based on customer relationships and buying behaviour.
Vote can separate the B2C and B2B websites, meaning wholesale customers only see the pricing specifically assigned to them. This feature allows Vote to provide a bespoke experience, ensuring buyers feel valued and improving their overall customer adoption and loyalty levels.
The team have also established order rules, including a delivery fee for orders below a certain order value or volume. This helps them better protect their profit margins and establish improved processes.
SparkLayer’s Sales Agent tool has also made a significant difference. The Sales Agent feature allows the team to create baskets for their B2B customers, based on customer details or previous/ regular orders. This has been widely adopted and appreciated by Vote’s legacy buyers who are used to ordering in person or over the phone.
The brand offers bespoke house blends, roasted exclusively for individual customers. Using SparkLayer, they have been able to display and offer each house blend to its respective account only. This has added another layer of personalisation while helping them better manage their inventory.
The results
One of the key results that Vote have experienced is how much time they’ve gained back as a result of using SparkLayer. The ability for buyers to self-serve 24/7, with all the correct price lists and discounts automatically applied, has led to significant time savings.
On top of this, they have seen fewer support requests. Customers now understand the ordering process and can place, manage, and track orders in their own time without reaching out.
The business has also seen great levels of customer satisfaction as a result of implementing SparkLayer. The improved visibility of pricing and discounts helps buyers understand their products and ordering options more easily.
The simplicity of the checkout, including the display of shipping rules and customisations, has further contributed to time savings.
Vote use the Sales Agent feature to reach out to customers who haven’t yet placed their weekly orders - the ability for buyers to then quickly approve their pre-built baskets has been a game-changer. They simply approve the basket, and the Vote team handle the rest.
This means that Vote can easily provide a bespoke, helpful experience that keeps customers happy and loyal!
“A lot of our customers have their own personalised coffee - they have their own house blend. So this coffee is only visible to them in their wholesale account, and not visible to anyone else. The whole checkout system is completely different to the Shopify one, too. Each customer can see the specific order rules for their account, like free shipping, minimum order requirements - it's just all very straightforward. And in terms of saving time, it works really well for us!” ~ Kate Pinkstone, Production Manager and Communications
Explore more
To learn more about Vote Coffee and their brand, visit their website.
To see how SparkLayer works with Shopify, you can explore via the links below: