Turn the Summer Slump into a Sales Spike: A Complete Guide for Coffee Shops

TLDR

Summer isn’t always sunshine for coffee shop owners. While the weather warms up, foot traffic can cool down. Regulars disappear on vacation. Students vanish from campuses. Morning routines get interrupted. For many local cafes and independent shops, June through August brings a dip in revenue that’s frustrating and often hard to predict.

But here’s the reality check: the summer slowdown doesn’t mean your business has to flatline. It simply means the rules have changed. And the good news? You don’t need a marketing agency or a dozen interns to flip the script. You just need a few smart summer marketing ideas tailored for cafes, smoothie bars, bakeries, and ice cream shops. We're talking creative promotions, loyalty boosters, and examples of real brands making it work.

You already have the tools. You’ve got the customer base. Now it’s time to rework the approach. This guide will walk you through exactly how to tackle the summer dip head-on with tested ideas, clever loyalty strategies, and a case study that proves it’s absolutely doable.

And there’s one summer drink trend taking over menus and social feeds this summer. Stick with us to the end, we’ll show you how to add it to your menu before the buzz fades.

1. What Causes the Summer Slowdown for Cafes

Customers Break Their Daily Habits

One of the main reasons summer hits cafés hard is that people stop following their regular schedules. Office employees are working remotely or taking longer breaks. Students are gone until fall. Locals head out of town for days or weeks at a time. Without those weekday routines, shops lose the predictable traffic that makes planning easier.

Convenience Becomes the Main Priority

For Gen Z and younger millennials, the decision to skip a local café often has nothing to do with pricing. Instead, they lean toward whatever is fastest. That might be a convenience store, a gas station coffee counter, or a drive-thru chain. These habits form quickly, especially when customers are in summer mode and out of their usual rhythm.

Rising Costs Put Pressure on Margins

At the same time, the cost of sourcing high-quality coffee is increasing. Climate change is already affecting major coffee-growing regions, which puts stress on suppliers and raises costs for independent shops. When traffic slows but ingredient costs rise, your business may find itself stuck between raising prices or taking the hit. Neither feels good. This is why increasing order volume and return visits becomes even more important during this stretch of the year.

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2. Rethink Your Summer Game Plan

Move Away from Basic Discounts

A simple discount might bring in traffic for a day, but it rarely creates long-term value. Instead of focusing on price, think about experience. What can you offer that feels seasonal, exclusive, or rewarding? Customers are looking for refreshing drinks, small treats, and easy wins. Highlight your cold brew, rotate summer-only items like Starbucks, and find ways to create excitement without giving away too much.

Invest in Loyalty, Not Just Ads

The best way to keep your shop busy during slower weeks is to activate your regulars. These are the people who already love your brand. Instead of spending money on digital ads or flyers, try loyalty perks that encourage them to come in more often. Whether you use Square Loyalty, a built-in reward feature in your app, or a physical stamp card, the goal is to make each visit feel more valuable.

“Loyal customers, they don't just come back, they don't simply recommend you, they insist that their friends do business with you”. – Chip R. Bell

Try these:

Bonus reward points on weekend visits
A summer refreshers series that rotates weekly
Secret menu items for loyalty members or app users

These ideas give people a reason to keep checking in, especially if the offer changes frequently or feels limited.

Put Technology to Work

If you already use mobile ordering, now is the time to take advantage of it. Customers who use your app spend 3 times more, come back more often, and open your messages. With fewer people in line and more ordering on their phones, your staff can handle orders smoothly while your sales stay consistent.

You can test ideas like:

"Order on the app before 10 AM and get a reward"
"App-only drink flavor available every Friday"
"Earn 10 points in August and get a free drink"

These strategies are easy to launch, simple to track, and create habits that extend beyond the summer season.

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3. Use BOGO the Right Way to Drive Summer Momentum

Why BOGO Still Works

BOGO, or Buy One Get One, may sound like an old trick, but it remains one of the easiest ways to drive traffic — especially when used with intention. Customers love getting something extra, and the right BOGO deal can fill tables during your slowest hours. It works especially well for drink-based businesses like cafés and smoothie bars, where the cost of ingredients is low but the perceived value is high.

The key is to avoid running the same BOGO over and over. Instead, create a sense of urgency by changing the rules, using short time windows, and offering different items. You can even focus BOGO deals on days or times that are usually quiet.

Try options like:

Buy one iced drink, get one free from 2 PM to 5 PM
Buy any cold brew, get 50% off a pastry
Buy one, gift one through the app to a friend

These ideas are flexible and can be launched in minutes through your mobile app or POS software. They feel generous to customers without deeply cutting into your margins.

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4. An Example: Chip City’s Record-Breaking BOGO

When it comes to using BOGO in a smart and scalable way, look no further than Chip City Cookies. They’ve used app-exclusive BOGO deals through Square to create real growth, and the results speak for themselves.

Chip City is a growing cookie chain known for its rotating weekly menu — always introducing something new. That variety keeps cookie lovers across the country talking and coming back to them.

But what took things to the next level was how they used promotions. Chip City started running BOGO deals through their mobile app using Per Diem. One of their recently launched BOGO deals completely shattered their previous records.

In just 24 hours, their app sales jumped by an unbelievable 1280 percent. Not only did they move product, they drove a huge wave of new customers and app downloads. It was one of their best-performing campaigns ever.

The reason it worked so well is simple. They created urgency. The offer was exclusive to app users, so fans had to download the app to get it. It was clearly promoted, it felt exciting, and it fit right into their brand energy.

That’s the power of pairing a smart deal with a tool that makes it so easy to launch and track. And it’s not just for cookie shops. If you’re running a café or coffee spot, you can do the same with your drinks, your pastries, or even your seasonal specials. A single well-timed offer can create buzz, increase orders, and bring new customers straight to your app.

If you want to read the full story, we’ve got the entire breakdown of Chip City’s results and how they pulled it off in this case study.

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A post shared by Chip City Cookies (@chipcitycookies)

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5. Use Loyalty Tools to Build Habits, Not Just One-Time Visits

Summer is the perfect time to strengthen loyalty without adding more complexity to your day. If you’re already using Square or Per Diem, you likely have access to loyalty tools that can be turned on with just a few clicks.

If you’re not sure what those tools look like or how they actually work, we’ve made it easy. Here’s a quick video that walks through 5 Square Loyalty tools many shops don’t even realize they’re missing out on.

These features help encourage repeat behavior in a way that feels rewarding. A customer who earns points with every visit is more likely to return next week. One who knows they’re one visit away from a free drink is far less likely to skip their usual morning order.

Here are a few ideas you can set up quickly:

Double points on quieter days like Tuesday afternoons
A reward for anyone who orders through your app five times in July
An extra perk for trying a seasonal drink or new menu item

These rewards don’t need to be big to be effective. They just need to feel consistent and easy to redeem. And since your customers already carry smartphones, app-based loyalty gives you a simple way to stay connected with them wherever they are.

You’re also collecting helpful data along the way. This helps you make better decisions when planning your next offer.

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6. Promote Offers Where Customers Will See Them

You don’t need to be everywhere. You just need to be visible in the places your regulars already check. A strong offer with weak promotion will always underperform, so choose a few channels and be clear about what’s available and when.

Try this approach:

Add a simple in-store sign near your register or pickup counter
Share one promo graphic on Instagram with the key message front and center
Schedule a single app notification just before your offer starts
Send a short email each week with one clear highlight

Think of it as making your offer part of their day. If someone sees your drink deal during a lunch break scroll or as they check their app before work, they’re more likely to act on it. You’re not forcing attention. You’re placing reminders where they belong.

You can also rotate what you offer across different weeks:

Start the month with a BOGO cold drink deal
Follow it with a loyalty points bonus for weekend visits
Close out with an app-only menu item for August

This rotation gives people a reason to keep coming back without making your promotions feel repetitive.

Want to ride the bucket drink trend this summer?

Here’s our complete guide on how to launch it, promote it, and make it sell.

Read the full bucket drink trend guide

Finish the Season Strong

The summer slowdown might feel like a step back, but it can actually give you an edge going forward. The efforts you put in now can carry long after the season ends.

Instead of waiting for September to pick up again, take this time to reconnect with your regulars. Keep your offers simple and your tech tools active. Focus on rewarding visits, encouraging app usage, and bringing in repeat traffic with clear, thoughtful promotions.

If you're ready to launch a mobile ordering app or bring new energy into your loyalty program, we’re here to help. Per Diem works with coffee shops, bakeries, smoothie bars, and multi-location brands to create customer experiences that feel just as strong as the product behind the counter.

Summer isn’t slowing down. And neither should your sales.