Skip to main content
Coffee Tips

How Long Would You Happily Wait for a Coffee?

Drinking coffee has become part of a routine for most people. Furthermore, drinking this beverage is linked to a lot of health benefits. They include boosting your energy levels, helping you stay alert and focused, reducing the risk of some chronic diseases, and promoting weight loss among others. Usually, coffee brewing takes approximately three to five minutes depending on your brewer. However, how long would you happily wait for a coffee? Read on!

wait for a coffee

How Long Would You Happily Wait for a Coffee?

The average wait time for your coffee depends on several factors. The first one is your coffee brewer. Ideally, it takes approximately three to five minutes to make a coffee, depending on the type of brewer you’re using. A drip brewer will take approximately five minutes, a French press will take two to four minutes, and an espresso machine takes approximately 20 to 30 seconds to make a cup of coffee.

The second factor that determines your average wait time for a coffee is the coffee shop. Waiting for a coffee in a coffee shop may take longer since there are multiple orders to be managed. The average wait time for slow-brewed coffee in a coffee shop ranges between four to 17 minutes. However, the average amount of time a customer is happy to wait for a coffee in a line before they think of leaving is five minutes and 54 seconds. After five minutes of waiting, the customer’s satisfaction goes from 95% to 85%.

Additionally, the amount of time you would happily wait for a coffee in a coffee shop depends on your desirability and its uniqueness of it. Surprisingly, some people will wait long enough in a specific coffee shop until they get their joe rather than walk a few yards to the next outlet. What’s more, some coffee shops have adopted several strategies to handle waiting for customers thus people are always willing to wait a little longer. These strategies include:

  • Providing accurate wait time
  • Providing distractions
  • Availing a pleasant waiting area
  • Making queues wider and not longer
  • Providing quality on-hold telecommunications

One of the biggest challenges facing most coffee outlets is managing the flow of customers. While such outlets produce the perfect drink, they use this excuse for the slow service. However, slow services are caused by factors such as poor organization. Some other factors that limit the service speed include:

  • Inadequate staff training
  • Running out of the essentials such as takeaway cups, lids, and change in the till
  • Equipment delay
  • Inaccurate estimations for the wait time

Generally, coffee outlets can improve their service speed through proper training of staff and also the proper organization of the outlet.

On average, a customer is happy to wait for a coffee for 5 to 10 minutes. If the service takes longer, most customers will put their purchases back and leave. The amount of time that the customer waits in a queue for coffee determines a customer’s shopping experience. Long waiting lines can ruin a company’s efforts to supply quality products.