Commentary

6 ways to boost holiday footfall at your hot drink stations

Whatever hot drink machines you offer, there are plenty of ways to keep things fresh this holiday season, so get the mince pies in, put up the lights and share the news about the beverages customers can enjoy.

Image: Adobe Stock.

November 20, 2023 by Sam Roberts — Digital Marketing Manager, Connect Vending

The holiday season is upon us, and with the cold days now closing in, it's the perfect time for customers to enjoy a warming beverage from the office hot drinks machine. So, what can you do to get your customers engaged and increase footfall to the office coffee machine, over the festive period?

In this article we take a look at some of the things you can do to get staff talking about coffee in the office, and make the most of the hot drinks vending machine you've invested in.

1. Holiday themed promotions

During the holiday season, people are eager to embrace the festive spirit. Use this to your advantage by offering special holiday-themed promotions to draw people to your machine. For example, you may want to purchase something sweet on the side like candy canes or mini mince pies and offer these free of charge to staff at the coffee station.

You might also decide to make all drinks free of charge for the month of December to spread some festive cheer throughout the month. If your drinks are already free of charge to staff and visitors, there are plenty of other ways you can incentivize more visits to the hot drink station.

2. Diversify your drink selection

If your machines offer multiple coffee beans or multiple milk options, you might decide to change the beans and milk in the machine over the festive period.

This can also be achieved with the addition of a range of syrups, which gives consumers the ability to try something a bit different, especially with limited edition festive flavors that will provide a little bit more sweetness and warmth on those particularly cold mornings.

For those workplaces that really want to enjoy a dose of festive magic, why not add some chocolate sprinkling for those who want to create the perfect holiday cappuccino?

3. Partner with local businesses

This one won't be for everyone, but is a great way of bringing some community spirit and mutually beneficial collaboration to your business and others in the local area. For sites that don't have access to snacks, fresh food or anything besides hot drink machines, you could try reaching out to nearby bakeries or local food shops to add a promotion for discounted products whenever a coffee is purchased, assuming the coffee isn't provided free to staff and visitors.

For example, customers who purchase a hot drink from your machine could receive 30% off a fresh pastry at the local bakery, or vice versa. This way, you both gain new customers and increase footfall, as well as testing the desire of your employees for fresh items that you might not offer.

4. Decorate and set the ambience

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without holly, trinkets, Christmas trees and snowy scenes, so why not share a bit of the festive joy by decorating your hot drinks machine station? Everyone loves to see the Christmas decorations come out and there's no better way to get staff engaged than by making the place look spectacular.

You can create an inviting atmosphere around your hot drink machine with festive lights, garlands and even a small Christmas tree, if space allows. Soft holiday music playing in the background can enhance the experience and draw people in.

5. Newsletter or social media promotion

Most hot drink machines are in the workplace, so being able to promote your machine and what it has to offer to your workers depends on them either reading your monthly newsletter or following you on social media.

This can be a particularly effective way of getting people to visit your coffee machine if you've already combined several of these suggestions and will help generate a real buzz around what you've done with the coffee station.

6. Bring forward your annual coffee machine calibration

A crucial aspect of retaining and attracting users to your hot drink machine is delivering consistent, high-quality drinks. A hot drink machine should be calibrated at least once a year, sometimes more if the machine is seeing exceptionally high use.

Though this isn't as exciting as many of the other items we've talked about, recalibrating a machine can make a world of difference to the taste and quality of drinks, especially if you've changed coffee beans at some point between calibrations, or have had some repair work done recently.

Bringing forward your recalibration ahead of the holiday break gives you a great opportunity to promote that the coffee brewing process and quality of the coffee has been optimized, and that it'll taste amazing!

The holiday season is a prime opportunity to increase footfall for your hot drink machines. By implementing these strategies, you can help boost revenue from coffee sales, but more importantly, help spread holiday cheer among your customers and your team.

Whatever hot drink machine you've got, there are plenty of ways to keep things fresh this holiday season, so get the mince pies in, put up the lights and share the great news about the festive beverages customers can enjoy.