Twitter Reservations? DM CoffeeGroundz in Houston
J. R. Cohen, general manager of Coffee Groundz in Houston, Texas, took the advice of the coffee shop’s angel investor, and started using Twitter in the fall of 2008. Little did he know at the time, following that one piece of advice would do wonders for business.
During a short period of time, J. R. was able to connect with Twitter users who frequented Coffee Groundz (@coffeegroundz). He engaged them and extended hospitality by telling them to ask for him when they came in for their coffee. J. R. built a follower base of 1,000 people in about four weeks and the impact of those connections was immediate.
On Halloween morning, J. R. received a tweet from Sean Stoner (@maslowbeer) requesting a “to-go” order for a breakfast wrap. J. R. replied quickly to Sean’s tweet and began a new way for the company to receive and place “to-g0″ online orders.
Now Coffee Groundz takes food and beverage (they also serve beer and wine) orders via direct message (DM) and they also make table reservations, orders from their outdoor patio, and event reservations. Twitter’s direct message system offered them a free and easy option in improving the way they serve their customers. Coffee Groundz’s homepage runs their Twitter updates and replies as well.
And they’ve even hosted a “tweet-up” that brought in 100 or so local Twitter users to the shop.
Here’s J. R. discussing his success with Twitter on a local news report.
Category: web 2.0 | Tags: Coffee Groundz, Coffee Shop, Houston TX, J. R. Cohen, KIAH 39, twitter
About the Author Managing Editor. Blogger. Consultant. Nerd who likes it behind the scenes.
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Fave, Mr. Wanzer and J.R., thank you for stopping by and commenting. J. R., perhaps you can share how you and Fave use Twitter w/ the food and clothing drive with us. What other good works do you perform using Twitter? By the way, my city needs a Coffee Groundz and a J.R.
Fave, Mr. Wanzer and J.R., thank you for stopping by and commenting. J. R., perhaps you can share how you and Fave use Twitter w/ the food and clothing drive with us. What other good works do you perform using Twitter? By the way, my city needs a Coffee Groundz and a J.R.
Fave, thanks so much. It's friends like you, that keep me going. I appreciate it and promise you I'll do my best and do more with the community. That reminds me, it's about time for another clothes/Food drive. Let's do this! Cheers #SLGT
I think Coffee Groundz is an excellent case of how social media can increase the value of businesses when used creatively. As a Houston resident and CG regular, I'm impressed and a bit proud to see my friend being able to share his success on such a large platform. JR and his team deserve it.
While I have always thought that twitter was a waste of time, I have always felt that it is a great marketing tool for companies. If twitter is able to develop a way to process payments through their site..they could probably start turning a profit rather than relying solely on venture capital funding.