Black Stripe Coffee – Digital Competence, One Brew at a Time

When passion meets purpose, great things, or rather, businesses are created. That is precisely the story behind Black Stripe Coffee, an eCommerce coffee business, that launched in 2016. Since a very young age, founder Davin Gegolick had an obsession with coffee. In his early school days, he swiftly hid a drip coffee machine from his parents in the closet. That space quickly became his personal cafe to make and enjoy an energizing cup of coffee every morning before school. His coffee obsession stuck for years, and eventually grew to include espresso after finishing college. Fast-forward 7 years, in 2015, Davin purchased his first coffee roaster and started using it for himself and his wife. The deliciousness of each brew quickly turned into a demand for fresh coffee from family and friends. Eventually, the demand forced Davin to upgrade to a bigger roaster, and thus, Black Stripe Coffee was born! 

A lot of legwork goes into creating a digital presence for your business, whether it’s setting up social media or a website. In the beginning, Davin accepted all orders and inquiries via text message, Facebook/Instagram direct messages, or email. Though, he was searching for a way to have a single line of connection between him and the customer. In fact, Davin had been interested in the idea of building a website for Black Stripe Coffee for a while but had been putting it off. The need for streamlining the business was further amplified as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic started to settle in. Black Stripe coffee was seeing a decrease in sales through some channels. However, instead of dwelling on the negatives, Davin thought strategically to keep his business afloat. Having an online presence and options for safe product deliveries and/or pickups would help keep their business operations intact while allowing them to build new customers along the way. Thus, Davin turned to the ShopHERE powered by Google program for support in turning his plans into a reality. 

“The ShopHERE Program was the perfect kick in the a** for me to finally launch an ecommerce website where my customers are able to order online in a streamlined and professional manner. It cost me nothing but time to setup the website and makes receiving and fulfilling coffee orders that much more simpler for both me and the customer.” 

Davin worked with his personal eCommerce Coordinator to create a website that showcased all of the products available and an easy-to-use checkout system. It was tailor-made to the founder’s specifications in terms of styling as well. Most of all, the website accomplished the goal of streamlining business processes to provide more time and focus on expanding to a broader customer base. This additional time allowed Davin to focus more closely on his passion for creating high-quality coffee blend selections, growth strategies for acquiring new customers, and designing new merch items. 

“Now that I have a professional website, I feel that my business has reached the next level professionally where I now have an online presence outside of social media. The website has opened up so many other opportunities for marketing and promotion which will hopefully drive future sales.” 

Black Stripe Coffee’s rebel personality visibly shines through on the Square website thanks to appropriate imagery, language, and overall style! The merchandise available, such as the Neon Blue Tee, perfectly exemplifies that brand character as well. With the majority of their coffees being roasted on-demand, including specialty-infused coffee, it’s no wonder customers would share their love of the brand through cool shirts, stickers, mugs, and even their newly released 1 Lb Airscape canister!  

“ShopHERE made it easy to launch an ecommerce website with no upfront costs. The website can be built at your own pace while providing input throughout the process. I think it a no-brainer for businesses to use the ShopHere program to get a website launched.”  

If you are interested in seeing Davin’s wide selection of coffee blends or viewing the merch they have available, click here. If you are also a small or medium-sized business just starting out and intrigued by our client’s positive experience with the ShopHERE powered by Google program, you can learn more about the program and sign up here.