{"id":10740,"date":"2024-07-30T14:54:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spreecommerce.org\/?post_type=cpt_success_str&p=10740"},"modified":"2025-10-30T14:01:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T14:01:58","slug":"blue-bottle-coffee-used-spree-to-turn-one-coffee-shop-into-a-700-million-ecommerce-business","status":"publish","type":"cpt_success_str","link":"https:\/\/spreecommerce.org\/success-stories\/blue-bottle-coffee-used-spree-to-turn-one-coffee-shop-into-a-700-million-ecommerce-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Bottle Coffee used Spree to turn one coffee shop into a $700 million e-commerce business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Third wave coffee<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

SPREE SUCCESS STORY<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Blue Bottle Coffee<\/a> was founded in 2002 by James Freeman, a freelance clarinetist and coffee enthusiast, who began roasting beans in his garage. Since then the company has grown from a favorite local shop in the Bay Area into a global brand with strong online presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considered to be one of the major players in third wave of coffee<\/strong>, a movement aimed at uplifting coffee from mere commodity to a luxury good like wine or craft beer, Blue Bottle played a big part in making high-end and artisanal coffee as popular as it is today. With their in-depth barista training program, brewing guides, and videos, they became one of the most impassioned craft coffee evangelists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By educating their customers about the craft of brewing a good cup of coffee and finding ways to build stability into what is essentially a\u00a0retail marketplace<\/a>, they\u2019ve created a brand that people want to talk about.\u00a0Blue Bottle Coffee has translated their chic coffee shop ideas into a wildly successful online brand.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinforcing relationships through the purchase experience<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Blue Bottle\u2019s online presence is inline with its in-store experience, making it possible for the company to encourage consumer passion in their products. When a customer purchases coffee through their website, Blue Bottle makes it an educational experience as well. The product pages and purchase flow act to reinforce the company\u2019s ideas on freshness and correct brewing methods. This helps guide the customer toward making a purchase that provides the best overall experience at all times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blue Bottle\u2019s minimalist design is instantly recognizable, and they reinforce it via social media. In a world where Instagram shots of your morning cup raise the awareness of a brand, Blue Bottle built their design aesthetic to be high-status but also inviting. When a customer snaps a picture in a Blue Bottle cafe, they\u2019re boosting their status to their followers, which translates to how the brand is perceived on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Blue<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Blue Bottle Coffee and Spree<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

When Blue Bottle Coffee Co. hired David Bowman as its chief financial officer in 2012, its online sales had swollen to about $1 million online. But the e-commerce software it was using, didn\u2019t offer features the company felt it needed to grow its business online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0retailer\u00a0wanted, for instance, to let shoppers buying subscriptions\u2014monthly coffee bean deliveries\u2014the flexibility to pause, cancel or restart their deliveries. The old system couldn\u2019t offer that type of functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After evaluating several options, Blue Bottle found Spree Commerce, an open-source platform, fit its needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the box, Spree Commerce offers a host of free order management and product management tools. It also incorporates\u00a0responsive design\u00a0principles so that Blue Bottle can maintain a single set of web site content that adapts the display depending on whether the consumer is using a computer, tablet or smartphone. Spree Commerce also offers,\u00a0integrations with several tools<\/a>\u00a0that link together a\u00a0retailer\u2019s systems\u2014fulfillment, accounting, marketing tools\u2014to provide a single location to view all the information in those systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe wanted flexibility and we wanted openness to link our systems together,\u201d Bowman says. Spree Commerce offered both. \u201cOur systems gather a lot of data and that data tells a story,\u201d he says. \u201cBut if you can\u2019t bring that data together, you won\u2019t understand that story.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Tech Stack:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n