Georgie’s Company is a specialty coffee brand that sells to two very different customers: consumers who want to brew great coffee at home, and businesses looking for a coffee machine and a contract. Two audiences, two problems. In this article we show what Georgie’s Company changed, what it delivered and how to apply the same approach in your own store.

Problem 1: business customers had to wait too long

On the business side, Georgie’s Company deals with large purchases and longer contract periods. A company choosing a machine has a lot of questions: which machine suits the number of people, which coffee goes with it, what does it cost per month? And in the coffee market, business customers expect a fast follow-up.

Yet a reply took 1.5 hours on average. For a company that is comparing options, that is plenty of time to check out a competitor. With a purchase tied to a contract that runs for years, that first fast answer is often the start of the relationship.

Problem 2: consumers dropped off at one question

With consumers, the problem was elsewhere. Many visitors dropped off at a single question: which coffee suits me best? Specialty coffee offers a lot of choice in flavour, roast and brewing method. People who don't know what to choose often choose nothing.

The approach

Mount Care: instant answers for business customers

Mount Care answers questions from business customers instantly, day and night. It knows the machines, coffee and terms of Georgie’s Company. For a complaint, an exception or a quote that needs a custom offer, it hands the conversation over to the team, with the context included.

Mount Stylist and Mount Search: quickly to the right machine

Mount Stylist and Mount Search quickly lead business customers to the machine that fits their situation. No long list of specifications, but a few questions and a recommendation. The conversation with the team that follows is about the contract, not the basics.

Mount Stylist: a coffee quiz for consumers

For consumers, Georgie’s Company uses Mount Stylist as a short quiz about taste and brewing method. At the end, the customer gets the coffee that suits them. The question that used to make so many visitors drop off is now answered in a few clicks.

The results in numbers

1.5 hrs0.4 secResponse time for business customers
+45%Conversion rate
+15%Average order value

Response time was measured before and after going live. Conversion and order value were measured with an A/B test in the Shopify data of Georgie’s Company: visitors with and without MountStudio, over the same period.

Consumers find their coffee faster, and business customers get to the right machine sooner.

An extra employee or AI?

The obvious fix for slow follow-up is more people on customer service. That works, but it has limits. A comparison:

Extra employee

  • Response timeDuring working hours, depending on how busy it is
  • Peak periodsQuestions pile up
  • Cost as you growMore growth needs more people
  • OnboardingTakes time for every new hire
  • Complaints and custom offersStrong: real empathy

AI customer service

  • Response timeInstant, also in the evening and at the weekend
  • Peak periodsScales with demand, no queue
  • Cost as you growNo extra payroll
  • OnboardingWorks from your products, orders and policies
  • Complaints and custom offersHands over to your team

It is rarely either-or. At Georgie’s Company, AI gives the first answer and helps with the machine choice. The team picks up the conversations that lead to a contract. That way, people spend their time where a person makes the difference.

How to do it yourself

  1. Measure your response time, separately for business and consumer customers. Without a starting point, you don't know what you gain. Georgie’s Company knew it was 1.5 hours on average, which is how it could show the difference.
  2. Find the question where customers drop off. At Georgie’s Company it was "which coffee suits me?". In your store it might be a size, a model or a subscription.
  3. Answer that question by asking a few questions back. A short quiz works better than a filter with twenty options. The customer doesn't have to work out the answer themselves.
  4. Help business customers with the choice first. With a large purchase, the right machine or package is the first step. A fast recommendation keeps the customer with you.
  5. Decide what goes to a person. Complaints, exceptions and custom quotes: agree when the AI hands over.

In short

  • Business customers in the coffee market expect a fast follow-up. Georgie’s Company went from 1.5 hours to 0.4 seconds.
  • A short coffee quiz answers the question where consumers used to drop off.
  • Machine advice gets business customers to the right choice faster.
  • In an A/B test, conversion rose by 45% and average order value by 15%.

Read the full Georgie’s Company case or see how Mount Care and Mount Stylist work. How fashion brand Mansour raised its order value with MountStudio, you can read in from 1.17 to 1.47 items per order.