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

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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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