While designing the interior of a cafe involves many lengthy and important processes, many business owners tend to concentrate more on the aesthetics of a venue rather than focus on the customer experience. Although the look and feel of a place is what may first attract customers in, what happens from thereon in determines whether they’ll come back. For this reason getting the basics right such as choosing the right cafe furniture is crucial. So how do you get it right? Let’s take a closer look…
Getting the most out of your space
A balance needs to be struck between making sufficient profit and making sure the customer is comfortable and this is why it’s really important to plan your seating space. By all means make sure that space in fully maximised by squeezing in as many tables as possible, but not at the detriment to both service and customer comfort. When you plan table seating ask yourself the following question. Is there sufficient space between tables so that….
-
Customers can be seated and leave without having to squeeze past a myriad of tables
-
Staff can serve easily without knocking chairs
-
People and staff can have easy access to toilets and kitchens respectively
-
Anyone with wheelchairs or pushchairs can be seated easily
If you can get the customer flow part right, then you’re halfway there.
Quality vs quantity
When it comes to the quality vs quantity debate of buying cafe furniture, quality should win every time. It’s no good for instance buying a job lot of cheap tables and chairs if your customers aren’t going to be comfortable sitting in and around them. The issue is that no matter how good your coffee, home made cakes, or service is, if a customer experiences uncomfortable seating or tables that are just too close together, they’ll only come in once. Yes comfort really is that important! Instead what you should be looking to do is to buy the highest quality cafe furniture that you can with your budget. In addition to bricks and mortar stores, many commercial cafe furniture retailers who choose to do their business online now have showrooms where you can take a look and try before you buy. Therefore in this day and age there really is no excuse for buying uncomfortable cafe furniture
Catering for everyone
Finally successful café’s don’t alienate their clientele. Therefore you’ll want to choose seating that appeals to a whole gamut of people. For example, corner seating consisting of cosy tables-for-two will cater for those looking for a little privacy, while booth seating will cater for larger groups and families. Alternatively comfy recliners or sofas might appeal to those freelancers looking for a workspace (that’s as long as they buy a coffee or two throughout the day) or those seeking to take the weight off their feet for an hour or so.
If you can take these 3 points on board and nail your cafe furniture choice then you’re halfway towards a cafe that will be talked about for all the right reasons.
At Cafe Chairs Melbourne we have a wide selection of top quality, commercial-grade cafe furniture available for you to browse and buy. If you need assistance the you can always contact us on 07 3205 1616. Alternatively if you’re in the Brendale area of Brisbane, then why not pop into our showroom to take a closer look at what we have to offer, first hand.