Covid-19 stay at home orders and long term shifts in remote working have changed consumer habits for the long term. Consumers are increasingly influenced by convenience and in particular, this has disrupted the food and beverage industry, an industry where traditional brick and mortar locations have maintained a stronghold.

When sweeping lockdown measures were introduced across the UK in March 2020 to combat Covid-19 , workers, commuters and social coffee drinkers embraced ecommerce in their droves, exploring boutique providers, signing up to subscription packages and purchasing quality coffee and brewing equipment online.

Speciality roasters Rave Coffee saw their orders double, phenomenal growth that has been maintained thanks to positive press coverage and growing consumer interest in how to achieve the best possible brewing experience at home.

With ten years of experience selling coffee direct-to-consumer online through their website, Rave Coffee sources, roasts, blends and packages high-quality coffee from their Cirencester base in Gloucestershire, UK.

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Alongside carefully selected roasts and blends, the team is passionate about educating their customer base about coffee selection and preparation and providing an excellent post-sale experience to match the quality of the coffee.

The Problem: Existing order management system not able to handle doubling of orders, wasting time

When orders doubled to 800 per day in March 2020, Rave Coffee found that their existing order management system was not capable of scaling to manage the influx. As well as dealing with higher volumes of inbound orders, the Rave Coffee team experienced issues with orders syncing between their provider and their Shopify account, with time spent troubleshooting administrative issues instead of prioritizing roast lists and speedy fulfilment. What’s more, there were discrepancies between the internal system used to create packing and roasting lists which required manual effort to reconcile, making it impossible to maintain accurate stock levels.

The Solution: A system capable of handling the new demand and future growth

Vikki Hodge, Director at Rave Coffee, says: “We needed a partner that was capable of handling spikes in demand as well as sustaining our future growth. As well as our requirements for a more robust system, we also wanted to find a provider that could provide a greater level of support both for troubleshooting issues and ensuring we optimized our set up.”

After evaluating alternatives, Rave Coffee selected Linnworks to future proof their business, impressed by the robust integration with Shopify, the bespoke onboarding process, Linnworks automation capabilities and an assigned Client Success Manager.

Vikki comments: “Our sales are set to double again in 2021, taking us to sales of £4million and growing our team to over 30 staff members. That growth wouldn’t be possible on our old system. We had a very positive experience going through onboarding with Linnworks with hands-on technical support that demonstrated how the platform was tailored to our specific requirements and the whole team is confident about hitting the ground running.”

What’s next: Rave Coffee focus on automating workflows

Working with their Client Success Manager, Rave Coffee are focusing on automating workflows to create prioritized roast lists from 800 daily orders and making the most of Linnworks stock management capabilities.

Vikki adds: “as we become proficient with the Linnworks platform, we’re finding opportunities to reduce the manual effort with picking, packing and manifesting orders. We’re excited about the potential of the platform and looking forward to optimizing our workflows with the guidance of our Client Success Manager.”

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