Individualisation and is what is keeping customers coming back to Knoops, according to CEO William Gordon Harris.
Speaking at MCA’s Food to Go conference, Gordon Harris also emphasised simplicity of the the Knoops proposition as a critical aspect of driving growth for the business and scaling at pace.
The brand focuses on bespoke chocolate drinks, and a small coffee and bakery offering.
“Delighting the customers with customisation has always been the key.
“We still have our favourites products that everyone goes to, such as our 43% and 34% chocolate drinks, but there is no other place to get the personalision that we offer.
“Driving growth is about simplicity. Whilst food is a very complex thing to deliver at scale,” he added.
Furthermore, the brand’s recent investment in a next generation mobile app has had a positive impact, helping grow its multi-channel offering and further expand its addressable market.
The Knoops app now enables customers to tailor and pre-order their favourite chocolate drinks on their smartphones.
“Customers ordering via their mobiles, with 3 billion different options in a seamless capacity, is extremely exciting for us.
“A lot of people say kiosks drive average transaction value, but I think we are also driving acute customer experience with the app, through personalisation”
Early indications show that take-up is popular for the “younger generations,” whilst older customers still prefer counter ordering.
With an entry point of £3.75, Gordon Harris says he is seeing “no pushback at all” from consumers on price point.
“The situation now, is that people are wanting the quality we offer, and they are prepared to pay for it. I think that people want that moment of comfort, and of connection.
“Whereas coffee is more about addiction.”
Considering the wider market, he sees high potential for this new category.
“If you look at coffee over the last thirty years, a huge market has come from a zero base, whilst chocolate has remained flat - no one has done it hot or cold, in a bespoke way.
“All our stores are growing at plus 20% a year, purely for the adoption of a new category,” the CEO added.
Despite some “very good operators doing high end coffee”, Gordon Harris sees the ceiling on coffee prices as a key constraint.
“Speciality, high-end coffee is, in my opinion, not a hugely scalable business.
“People know what the price of coffee is, but no one has benchmarked quality hot chocolate.”
Knoops maintains a balance between offering firm favourites and introducing new additions to the menu.
Specifically, Gordon Harris explained that attracting customers to its cold offering, has been transformative.
“Hot chocolate is an easy sell in the cold weather, but introducing people to the cold has been a huge part of transitioning the stores to an all-year-round income stream.”
