Coffee, Customers, and Shopify Growth: 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
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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
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