How to get more customers to your café or coffee shop
Updated By Akkrev
How cafés and coffee shops grow in 2026: win the first visit from people nearby, turn it into a weekly habit, and get named when people ask Google or ChatGPT.
Key points
- A café grows by winning first visits and turning them into a habit. 36% of coffee drinkers buy coffee out 3 to 5 times a week.
- Taste wins customers over: 53% pick a coffee shop mainly for taste, 20% for price and just 1% for the brand.
- The offers that get people to try a new shop: buy one get one free (36%) and a free drink for joining a loyalty programme (28%).
- Cashback-style rewards gave cafés and pizzerias the best 90-day retention in Toast's 2026 data: 24 to 26%.
- More people now ask AI for specific needs, like "quiet café to work near the station". 45% of US consumers used AI for a local recommendation in the past year.
- Word of mouth36%
- Social media35%
- Signs, flyers and traditional adverts9%
Toast coffee habits report, 650 US coffee drinkers, 2025.
A café or coffee shop gets more customers by winning first visits from people nearby and turning them into a weekly habit. In 2026 that first visit comes from friends, social posts, Google and Maps, and increasingly from AI assistants answering specific questions like “somewhere quiet to work near King’s Cross”.
This guide is for café and coffee-shop owners and managers asking how to grow sales and build regulars.
How people find a new coffee shop
Toast surveyed 650 US coffee drinkers for its 2025 coffee habits report. Most found new shops through friends (36%) and social media (35%). Signs, flyers and traditional adverts brought in just 9%.
Here is what gets them through the door the first time:
| Offer | Would entice them to try a new shop |
|---|---|
| Buy one, get one free | 36% |
| Free drink for joining a loyalty programme | 28% |
| Seasonal or limited-time specials | 13% |
| Social media contests or giveaways | 1% |
Taste is the main reason people pick one shop over another (53%), then price (20%). Brand loyalty was the top reason for just 1%. In other words, people will switch to a café that does the basics better, if they hear about it.
The newer route: specific questions to AI
Café searches used to be “coffee near me”. Now people increasingly ask an assistant for exactly what they need:
- “Laptop-friendly café near Leeds station that opens before 8”
- “Dog-friendly brunch in Austin on Sunday”
- “Good coffee and a gluten-free cake in Bath”
45% of US consumers used an AI tool for a local business recommendation in the past year, up from 6% (BrightLocal, 2026). AI answers name a handful of places and say why. For an independent café, that’s a channel where size matters less: a chain’s listing rarely says whether a branch is quiet, takes dogs or roasts its own beans. If you do, and it’s written down where AI can read it, you can be the answer.
The catch: AI only repeats what it can find. If your hours, menu, seating and policies live only in an Instagram story or a photo of a chalkboard, AI can’t use them. Read how to get your café recommended by AI.
Turn the first cup into a habit
Regulars keep a café going. 36% of coffee drinkers buy coffee out 3 to 5 times a week, and another 37% once or twice (Toast). That’s why turning an occasional customer into a weekly one matters so much.
What the data says keeps them coming back:
- Consistency. In Toast’s 2026 Regulars Report (1,500 US adults), 43% of people who stopped visiting a favourite place blamed a gradual slide in quality or service.
- Recognition. 48% said being remembered is what makes them feel most valued.
- A simple reward. Cashback-style rewards gave cafés and pizzerias 24 to 26% retention over 90 days in Toast’s loyalty data, the best of the reward types tested.
How to bring more people into your coffee shop
Pick a time when you have capacity. For example, if mornings are quiet, make your opening time and breakfast menu easy to find for people looking for coffee before work. If you want to bring in more lunchtime customers, show the food you actually serve, when the kitchen is open and whether people can order ahead.
Put the same hours and menu link on the website and the Google Business Profile you manage. Check them on a phone, then use till transactions by time of day to see whether visits changed. Ask some first-time customers how they found you. See Google’s guide to menu and ordering links.
Where to start
- Ask AI for your café’s strengths. Try three questions that match what you’re good at (opening time, laptops, dogs, brunch). Are you named?
- Check your Google Business Profile. Hours, photos, menu link and attributes like Wi-Fi or outdoor seating.
- Read your last ten reviews. What do people praise? That’s what you should be known for.
- Look at your loyalty offer. Can a new customer understand it in five seconds?
- Ask regulars how they found you. Write the answers down for a week.
How to measure progress
Track menu and directions clicks where available. Ask new customers how they found you, and use your till or loyalty data to see whether first visits turn into repeat visits. See how to measure AI search results and how to find AI referrals in Google Analytics.
Akkrev covers the AI part of this: whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Grok models name your café for the questions your customers ask, and which sources decide it. You get weekly results and a short list of website fixes. Good coffee and service do the rest. See AI search optimisation for cafés or how to check if AI recommends your café.
Questions
How do I get more customers to my coffee shop?
Win more first visits from people nearby (word of mouth, social posts, an up-to-date Google profile and being named in AI answers for the needs you serve), give them a reason to try you, then turn that visit into a weekly habit with consistent quality and a simple loyalty reward.
How can I increase café sales?
There are three levers: more customers, more visits per customer and more spend per visit. Regulars move all three, so most cafés grow fastest by turning occasional customers into weekly ones.
Does a loyalty card actually work for a café?
Usually, if it's simple. In Toast's 2026 loyalty data, cashback-style rewards gave cafés and pizzerias 24 to 26% retention over 90 days, the best of the reward types tested. In Toast's coffee survey, 28% said a free drink for signing up would get them to try a new shop.
Do people use ChatGPT to find cafés?
Yes. BrightLocal found 45% of US consumers used an AI tool for a local business recommendation in the past year, up from 6%. Café questions to AI tend to be specific: laptop-friendly, open early, dog-friendly, good for a meeting, oat milk or gluten-free.
What's the cheapest marketing for a small café?
Your Google Business Profile, your reviews, a short website page with hours and menu, and your regulars. All are free, and they're also the sources AI assistants read before recommending a café.