Why Independent Cafes Are Turning To AI Instead Of Hiring A Marketing Team

TLDR

Create a promotion to end January on a profitable note.
Plan a campaign for the rest of the year that keeps regulars coming back.
Design a Valentine's coffee and tea offer that guests will actually order.

When most people picture artificial intelligence in restaurants, they jump straight to robot cooks and fully automated kitchens that feel like science fiction. That version exists in a few places, but it is not where most of the change is happening. For a lot of independent cafes and small restaurants, AI shows up in quieter ways, inside tools they already use, helping with planning, guest communication, and day-to-day decisions, even for teams that do not see themselves as very tech savvy.

This is the kind of work that automation is taking over for hospitality teams. Across independent coffee bars and restaurants, managers use Olivia to turn short prompts into full campaigns that work for them. The AI assistant studies past orders, peak hours, and customer response, then suggests offers, cop,y and timing that fit how each shop already works. Owners stay in control of what goes live, but the hard thinking around what to say, who to reach, and how to time each push is already done.

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How Merchants Use Olivia To Bring Structure To Busy Days

The following sections explore how Olivia fits into the routines of stores using Per Diem. Each story highlights a different point in the day when clarity matters, from morning planning to customer messages at night. The focus stays on their experience and the practical gains they see in real numbers.

Brewed Awakening: Starting The Day With Clear Direction

Brewed Awakening opens early, which means planning begins long before the first customer walks in. Their team uses Olivia as a quick-thinking partner that removes guesswork from daily planning. When they ask for a weekday push or a menu idea that suits cooler mornings, they receive ready suggestions that fit their customers and selling patterns. This helps the team stay focused on setup and speed since they no longer spend time debating what to run first.

The shop also uses the AI tool to support lunch sales, which have become an important part of their week. The owner asks the assistant for an afternoon sales boost, and Olivia responds with an idea that pairs drinks with snacks, a short message that feels on brand, and a suggestion for timing. They then set auto push notifications and coupons for the late morning and early afternoon window, so guests receive a friendly reminder right when they are likely to think about lunch.

The coffee shop recorded a 17.73% rise in weekly orders after adopting this flow. Their team credits this lift to steady, timely ideas that reach customers at the right moments. By starting the day with clarity, they create more room for smooth service through the morning.

The Rush Espresso: Planning Weekly Campaigns With Less Effort

The Rush Espresso uses Olivia as a planning partner for marketing, not just a tool for small tasks. Instead of waiting for sales to dip, they plan, asking for campaigns like “New marketing plan for the rest of 2025” or “We need something to bring sales up this week.” Around the holidays, the prompts shift to “Help me showcase our Christmas gifts” and “Advertise Christmas Eve hours,” so regulars know what is new and when the shop is open.

Olivia answers with a shortlist of focused campaign ideas. For a softer stretch, it might suggest a weekend rush special. For steadier periods, it can propose a simple push that keeps order volume strong on quieter days. When they ask how to encourage upsell items, the assistant suggests offers that highlight merchandise, bakery add-ons, or premium drinks. Each idea arrives with a clear title, a natural-sounding message, and suggested days and times that mirror how guests already visit.

The team then chooses what fits their goal for the week and switches it on. The process feels more like a quick check-in than a planning meeting. Over the last month, this way of working has helped this family-run coffee shop reach a weekly conversion rate of 43.75% and hold weekly retention near 70%, with roughly 5% growth each week. For them, AI support shows up as a steady stream of well-timed ideas that keep the week moving in a positive direction without adding more work to the day.

Tikka Shack: Using Olivia To Lift Quiet Mondays

Tikka Shack serves delicious Indian food across its multiple locations in the U.S. They turn to Olivia when Mondays lag behind the rest of the week. They simply ask for a campaign to boost sales, Olivia gives them a plan that points only at that slow day, with a clear offer and send time that match their lunch and dinner rhythm. Working this way, they have seen weekly orders rise by 20.69% and now go into Mondays with a defined push instead of guesswork.

You can lean on the assistant in the same way without hiring a marketing team. Instead of trying to perfect every push notification alone, you can paste in a rough line, ask Olivia to make it clearer or more inviting, and get a version that reads well on a guest phone. That is how independent restaurants and even chains keep their messages sharp without a dedicated team, and it is one of the easiest ways to put AI to work for your own store.

Want to know what Olivia tracks for you? Check the top cafe metrics here.

Kona Coffee Roasters: Weekend Pushes And Smart Coupon Limits

Kona Coffee Roasters, with locations across NYC, uses Olivia to put more weight behind their strongest days. They ask for campaigns that can lift weekend sales, and the assistant comes back with ideas that line up with how guests already visit, from relaxed morning coffee runs to slower afternoon treat times. They choose the plan that fits and turn it on from the dashboard. Since they started working like this, weekly orders have grown by 30.3%.

Olivia also helps them keep coupons under control. At one point, they ask for a coupon with several uses per customer, then push that number higher. Olivia answers with the highest limit the system safely allows and explains that this is the cap. If you like running generous offers but want to protect margins, you can use the assistant the same way to set clear use limits without digging through settings on your own.

Stone Tower Brews: Offers That Respect Time And Context

Olivia acts like a guardrail for Stone Tower Brews whenever they want to run deals without hurting margins. When they ask for a promo code to test app orders or give first-time guests a reason to try the app, Olivia suggests a clear structure. It recommends a modest discount, a first-order offer with a fair ceiling, and a quick sale idea that fits their traffic, instead of letting a 100% off request slip through. Every code gets a simple name, one use per guest, and a clean way to appear in the app, so guests understand what they are getting and staff do not worry about misuse.

For Taco Tuesday, Olivia makes sure the special only shows when it should. The assistant applies the right hours in the system so guests see Taco Tuesday during the active window and regular menus at other times. That keeps expectations clear for guests and removes the need for manual switches during service.

By handing promo rules and timing to Olivia, Stone Tower Brews keeps offers tidy, protects margins, and lets staff stay focused on pours and tables instead of settings.

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What These AI Use Cases Mean For Your Own Cafe Or Restaurant

Looking across these stores, a clear pattern appears. None of them wanted a new system. They wanted to protect revenue that slips away when this work stays manual, cut down on daily decision stress and stop spending late nights planning campaigns.

Brewed Awakening uses Olivia to set the focus for the day and to automate timed pushes and coupons that support lunch.
The Rush Espresso relies on Olivia for weekly and seasonal campaigns, from gift pushes to upsell ideas.
Tikka Shack uses it to give quiet Mondays a clear promotion and now sees weekly orders higher by 20.69%.
Kona Coffee Roasters leans on Olivia for weekend campaigns and sensible coupon rules and has recorded a lift in weekly orders.
Stone Tower Brews depends on Olivia to keep discounts and time-based specials like Taco Tuesday within clear limits, and their weekly orders have grown by 29.52%.

In every case, the work starts with a plain prompt rather than a complex setup. Ask for a push to fix a slow day. Ask for a simple weekend idea. Ask for help writing a clear message or setting limits on a coupon. Olivia turns that into an actionable plan that respects how your store already runs.

If you run a cafe, bakery, brewery, or restaurant, you can treat Per Diem’s AI assistant the same way. Not as a big project, but as a practical helper inside your existing tools that takes on the planning and writing you do not have time for. You stay in control of what goes live. Olivia does the heavy thinking around what to say and when to send it, so you and your staff can be present with the people at the counter.

Ready to see how AI assistance could work for your own shop?