Range
When retailing tea you can afford to have a much larger range than you might have on a café menu. It's good to get a base of single estate teas and old favourites for those customers who like to know exactly what they are getting, but it is equally important to stock a wide variety of flavoured teas as these often sell well and attract more attention.
A couple of single estate options for each tea type alongside a larger range of flavoured teas is a safe bet for starting out. If you find your customers leaning towards, say, green tea you can always look to expand the options there.
You want to give your customers choice without overwhelming them. Look for where you can avoid doubling up, or repeating flavours.
Communication
Communication is key when retailing something as varied as tea. You want to make sure that your customer is buying what they are after, and this is best done by asking and answering questions and guiding them towards the teas that suit their tastes.
Whats's more when your customers take their tea home you need to make sure they're properly equipped to infuse the leaves properly and get the most from them. You want the tea to be enjoyed as it is supposed to be to reflect well on your business. Using the knowledge we provide you can inform your customers of the best ways to store and infuse their teas and you can gather information about the teas that you sell to share with interested customers.
Many teas have interesting stories, and backgrounds to their origins. Stretching back into the past you can use these myths, tales, and anecdotes to spark conversations. Rest assured there is always something to talk about regarding tea, and being able to share knowledge with your customers is invaluable.
Storage + Freshness
You might choose to pack your tea into retail sized pouches of varying weight before selling them, this way customers can pick them directly from the shelves. In this case storage is taken care of as each packet should be air tight and retain the freshness of the tea inside.
However, you might choose to weigh out tea from bulk. This could be part of your customer experience, and allows for more flexibility but will require that you store your teas in air tight containers in larger quantities. The trade off is between having an attractive display and the ability of your customers to see and smell the teas and keeping the teas fresh.
It is very common to see catering outlets using glass jars to store and display teas. The main drawback to this is that exposure to light drastically effects the freshness of tea. We suggest you use a hermetically sealed opaque tea caddy. It is also worth considering having a separate customer display of smaller quantities that can be used for customers to smell and see the tea.
Properly stored your teas should have about a three year shelf life, which makes holding larger quantities relatively low risk.
Branding
You might like to buy PekoeTea branded retail options directly from us, or you can create your own branding using our private label service.
It is harder than ever to stand out, and a good brand name and design is one of the most effective ways to make your company more visible. Try to find a memorable name that fits what you are doing, make it fit with your USP – customers become loyal to brands, and will choose to buy the same tea from one establishment rather than another based solely on what they consider their chosen brand to represent.
Customer Experience
Though the ideal customer experience will vary from business to business, any establishment will want to offer their customers something unique. As a tea retailer you might like to create the impression of an emporium, with caddies lining the walls, or you might simply want to offer a small selection of teas in a space where they can be properly infused and tasted.
Whatever you're particular vision is the customers experience will dictate whether they decide to come back or not, whether they decided to tell their friends about you or not. With a product like tea the senses are of great importance, you need your customers to be able to smell and see the teas at the very least, and offering them a chance to taste too is a bonus.
