Rituals
Case study: the coffeeshop experience
Hi friend,
How are you? Hope you’re doing well.
It’s crazy how time flies. We’re now closing 10 years of living in Miami. The longest we've ever lived anywhere.
One of the pleasures of living in Miami is that it feels like you practically live overseas. Spanish is everywhere, along with 30 different cuisines.
I love that!
Over the years, I developed a weekend habit of having a Cortadito. It’s a traditional Cuban coffee drink consisting of a robust espresso shot “cut” with a small amount of steamed milk.
I take mine with no sugar. Otherwise, it’s too sweet.
To complete the experience, I order a spinach empanada - another popular staple pastry in Latin America.
I bet you have your own coffee ritual, maybe accompanied by a fresh, flaky croissant or a sweet cornetto.
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The sequence
When you think about your coffee shop experience. What are the key aspects you enjoy the most?
Here are a few hints from the general public:
Beyond the overall experience, I believe any meal or coffee ordering experience is an exercise in correct “sequence choreography.”
The reality is that in coffeeshops the pastry always arrives first. The barista only needs to grab one from the pastry heated display.
Yet, the coffee takes 2-3 minutes to arrive.
The other weekend at my favorite place, I looked around at how people behave.
Some couldn’t resist and were eating their pastry before their coffee arrived.
Some, me included, were patiently waiting for their coffee to land on their tables in order to have the dual savory experience.
Hey, I took this even further by placing a napkin on my empanada to keep it warm while waiting…
For me, it’s worth the wait as you get this unique marriage between the crispy crust, the moist, hot cheese and spinach filling, and strong coffee flavors.
Each feeds the other to create a special comforting “Good Morning!”
That made me curious, why is there a difference? So, I consulted Gemini.
Based on various social media polls (Reddit, BuzzFeed, and Instagram), the split is surprisingly close.
Coffee drinkers generally fall into two narrative camps:
The Early Study
This story has likely reminded you of the famous 1960’s “Stanford Marshmallow Test” by Professor Walter Mischel.
In the study, preschoolers were offered a choice: eat one treat immediately or wait 15 minutes to receive a second.
Decades later, follow-up studies found that the children who successfully delayed gratification generally achieved higher SAT scores, lower BMIs, and better stress management.
While initially framed as a test of pure willpower, modern research suggests the results are also a reflection of environmental trust—kids are more likely to wait if they believe the promised reward will actually show up.
If we overlay this on the coffee scenario, then if a coffee shop patron doesn't trust that the "second reward" (the latte) will arrive in a timely or reliable fashion, the most logical survival strategy is to consume the "first reward" (the pastry) immediately.
Rituals
This coffee ritual is not different from any other customer interaction with any other product.
Looking at how your customers use your product/service, do you see any ritual trends surfacing? Knowing your customers’ preferences can teach you a lot about how to curate the optimal experience for them.
In fact, uncovering those recurring micro behavioral trends can impact every step in your buyer’s journey to max enjoyment.
See the coffeeshop example:
This is not a small thing.
A better customer experience can easily translate into higher satisfaction, longer customer life time value, and better acquisition magnet as more people will sing the praise of not just your product, but the rewarding experience it enables.
If you’re visiting Miami, the Emissary Cafe in Coconut Grove is a great example.
It’s a very small local place we sometimes stop by during the weekends that always has long lines. Jokingly, we call it “Vibes Cafe” as they clearly cracked the code for their customers.
The fun part is that if you do proper customer research, you may find golden intelligence about customer habits you were never aware of.
This would help you create a similar customer experience comparison table, pie chart, and buyer’s journey visuals - like the above. And be strategic with your approach.
You then could tell stories to celebrate these rituals, or better yet, feature your customers gushing over them.
See you next time!
Best,
- Shlomi
Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
story > visual > emotion > experience
shlomi@visualstorytell.com
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