Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops • Hacker News Board

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#91

Post by timgriffin77 » Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 1:30 AM UTC

devit wrote: post #88

Kind of surprised this is a thing: seems like showing up with a 5$ bill or credit card and getting coffee and change back (whether from a human or from a coffee vending machine) would be a fine process. If one is a regular coffee drinker and finds that inefficient, buying a coffee machine for home/work seems like a better solution than attempting to "order ahead" and still having to physically get to the coffee shop.…

2 years ago I would have agreed with you, and to a point I still do - it seems like it would be simple to just walk in with cash and walk out with a coffee. But, it's undeniable how willing customers are to avoid friction, especially when they haven't had any caffeine yet.

Also, Starbucks is on pace to process over 15% of their annual revenue through their mobile app this year, it's by far the most popular payments app in the U.S. and shows no signs of slowing down.

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#92

Post by verall » Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 3:41 AM UTC

I order 2 coffees about 3 times a week through chownow, which has partnered with a local "chain" that has about 6 locations.

My feedback to you is: if I had to download an app, I would not have bothered. A super functional mobile webapp is a must, especially for first-time use. Chownows mobile and desktop sites work great. OTOH, I feel like the dominos app burned me with advertisments so I uninstalled - I think you should be really weary of opt-out notifications.

I don't even really mind the chownow $0.50 upcharge, because I'm pretending that otherwise my local coffee company is getting the full value.

You have stiff competition. You sound super motivated and I wish you good luck. I have friends and family in Charlotte so I'd definitely try your platform given the opportunity :)

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#93

Post by opportune » Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 3:48 AM UTC

timgriffin77 wrote: post #89

opportune wrote: post #87

Perhaps OT but how did you arrive at >over 220M cups purchased daily at coffee shops, cafes, bakeries and diners. Starbucks is the largest chain, but they only process 2.5% of those daily sales. 220M is quite a lot for a single day, representing about 1 cup per day for roughly 80-90% of adults in the US. I could believe this if the statistic were "brewed" and included coffee bought in bulk from supermarkets/other sup…

Good questions all around! What's surprising is that the 220M figure only accounts for daily purchases. Americans actually drink over 400M cups of coffee every day. A cup is definitely an odd metric to measure by, it's just the simplest term to define a coffee or espresso-based drink. To clarify, this is measuring the U.S.-only, the global market is obviously much larger. I know it may seem high, but it's a lot easie…

Can you say where you got the figure though, like which source or report?

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#94

Post by timgriffin77 » Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 4:16 AM UTC

opportune wrote: post #93

timgriffin77 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good questions all around! What's surprising is that the 220M figure only accounts for daily purchases. Americans actually drink over 400M cups of coffee every day. A cup is definitely an odd metric to measure by, it's just the simplest term to define a coffee or espresso-based drink. To clarify, this is measuring the U.S.-only, the global market is obviously much larger. I know it may seem high, but it's a lot easie…

Can you say where you got the figure though, like which source or report?

Ah, sorry about that. Yeah there are quite a few stats maintained on the ssca.org website. Harvard also maintains statistics about coffee consumption, and Huffington Post did a big expose on it, as well. There's also a lot of good information from the National Restaurant Association, Statista, Mordor Intelligence and Mintel.

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#95

Post by quickthrower2 » Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 9:19 AM UTC

pedalpete wrote: post #84

quickthrower2 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't new. There are competitors in this space. Years ago I was using one called Hey You. I'm not sure about the USA though, maybe it doesn't exist there, or not at a national level.

There are a bunch of them in Australia, where Hey You is based. I forget what most of the others are called.

It'll be interesting to see if the SV winner-takes-all in this niche comes and swallows them up.

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#96

Post by username444 » Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 10:34 AM UTC

julianlam wrote: post #8

This is exactly Ritual's (Toronto, Canada) schtick. Order ahead, start walking. Food will be ready when you arrive. There's no reason why you need to stick to coffee. I use Ritual to order from my favourite restaurant in the middle of a tourist attraction. The tourists wait 30+ minutes, and I can stroll up to the counter and grab my lunch and skip the line. Ritual even tracks your location with GPS (if opt-in) and de…

+1 for Ritual.

The interface is a little clunky, but the service as a whole works really well. Order ahead, walk in to pick up.

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#97

Post by iamnotacrook » Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 2:06 PM UTC

devit wrote: post #88

Kind of surprised this is a thing: seems like showing up with a 5$ bill or credit card and getting coffee and change back (whether from a human or from a coffee vending machine) would be a fine process. If one is a regular coffee drinker and finds that inefficient, buying a coffee machine for home/work seems like a better solution than attempting to "order ahead" and still having to physically get to the coffee shop.…

I'm a regular coffee drinker, so it makes no suggest I go home and make a coffee several times a day when I'm out maybe 30 miles from home. I think people who can make coffee at home aren't going to forget that just because this service is available.

The idea of ordering in advance then picking it up sounds fine to me for when I know - or suspect -there'll be a queue. Also, you'd be surprised how often I get asked my name when i'm ordering, but when the drink is ready they just shout out "grande latte" which is often what more than 1 person has ordered so it causes confusion/grabbiness. Ordering in advance would seem to make it more likely they'll put a name down, though I could be wrong.

My only problem with this service is that I already tried it (Costa do this in the UK) but they'll just chuck your coffee away (without a refund) if you don't get there within 15 minutes of ordering; it's likely I'll be using public transport to get around and you just can't rely on that so unless I order as I walk down the street - perhaps stopping, to be safe - I'm in danger of losing my money, and I'm better off just ordering when I get there.

Oh, and you need a web-page for this - I don't really install apps any more, as they're like web-pages I can't block the trackers/javascript etc of.

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#98

Post by jaclaz » Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 2:54 PM UTC

S33V wrote: post #45

Kiro wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It turns out that not waiting 5 minutes for your order kinda leaves out the whole experience of talking to the barista, getting that smile at 6am when you're not feeling it yourself, and the personal experience of the hand crafted beverage. I'm pretty sure you're in minority wanting this though. I absolutely dread getting too personal with my barista, to the point that I start going to another place if they recogni…

Believe it or not, a lot of people see going to coffee shops as a social experience. My SO works at a Starbucks and the amount of people that come in on a daily basis just to get human contact is very surprising.

Maybe it is a cultural habit.

Here in Italy, you normally drink coffe at home before leaving for work.

Then, later in the morning you want to go to a bar to get a coffee (even if every office/shop has a coffee machine of this or that kind) usually with one or two colleagues, essentially because it is a way to make a short pause, have a quick stroll, talk with the colleagues about non-work arguments, have some interaction with the barista and/or the cashier.

Exceptionally, i.e. - as an example if there is a meeting - someone calls the bar (of which the phone number is known of course) and orders the needed coffees (and pastry/whatever) and either someone from the office goes and gets them or a barista brings them up (this depends a lot on the city/village).

Apart the above exception here having a coffee is more a ritual for having a pause mid-work, making it more "efficient" wouldn't probably work.

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#99

Post by thinkingemote » Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 6:21 PM UTC

You got me at the title but I've not used the Starbucks app... Are what you are doing similar for the end user?

Any patent issues?

Re: Launch HN: Cloosiv (YC S19) – Order ahead from local coffee shops

#100

Post by leejoramo » Sat, Jul 13, 2019, 2:01 AM UTC

Very interested in this. As a web developer and the owner of a coffee house, I have been planning to build something like this integrated with Square. This may save me time and money.