Beyond the beans: what today’s coffee drinkers really want

Coffee shops are at a crossroads. With shifting spending habits, growing competition from at-home brews, and evolving expectations around experience and value, it’s no longer enough to just serve a great flat white.

From subscriptions and sustainability to seating and social vibes, consumers are redefining what they want from their coffee moments — and brands need to keep up.

That’s why we surveyed nationally representative consumers in the US and UK to uncover what’s driving (and delaying) their visits to coffee shops. Whether you’re a global chain or a challenger brand, these insights reveal the trends worth waking up to.

Take a deeper look at the insights by heading over to our interactive dashboard. 

Quick summary

• Coffee shops are “third spaces” for younger consumers — under-35s are far more likely to read, work, charge devices, and socialise there than older groups.
• Subscriptions are a generational opportunity — over half of Gen Z and Millennials in both markets would consider one, but interest drops off steeply with age.
• Women go for connection, men go for convenience — women are more likely to visit socially; men are more likely to use Wi-Fi or drive-thrus.
• Free refills and a comfortable vibe are key to getting people to linger — especially among younger adults and surprisingly, over-65s in the US.
• Middle-aged consumers (45–64) are the hardest to convince — they under-index on nearly all motivators and are often simply not interested in staying longer.

US results

Younger people seek out third spaces

Our research found that younger people – specifically people under 35 – visit coffee shops for a much wider range of reasons than older groups. 

Some of this is unsurprising – we could have predicted that 55-year-olds aren’t using coffee shops for studying. But other responses are more enlightening.

For example, 12.0% of 18-24s and 18.4% of 25-34s use coffee shops to charge devices or connect to Wi-Fi. This compares with just 6.0% of 45-54s and 9.3% of 55-64s. 

And reading in coffee shops is most popular among 25-34-year-olds – 13.2% do this, compared to 5.0% of 45-54s and 4.9% of 55-64s.

Youngsters prefer apps; women prefer drive-thru

We found that the most popular way to pay at a coffee shop overall was still in-store at the counter – 62.5% of the general population prefer this, way ahead of the second-placed drive-thru, at 32.3%. 

Unsurprisingly we found young people more willing to order ahead and pay through an app. Almost half (44.7%) of 18-24s would pay this way, and a third (36.7%) of 25-34s. This compares with a quarter (25.1%) of 45-54s and 1 in 10 (11.8%) of 55-64s who like to pay that way. 

There’s also a notable difference between men and women when we look at drive-thrus specifically. 37.8% of women would prefer this option, compared to just 26.5% of men.  

Subscriptions appeal to younger shoppers

Gen Zers and Millennials alike would be likely to take out a coffee subscription – 50.3% of 18-24s and 52.3% of 25-34s said this, compared to a national average of 39.0%. 

Meanwhile it’s the reverse when we look at older shoppers. Three in 10 (30.6%) 45-54s and 1 in 5 (21.2%) of 55-64s would be likely, with 45.2% and 51.6% respectively saying they’re unlikely to take out a subscription. 

There’s also an untapped 23.0% of the US population who are neutral on coffee subscriptions – surely a massive potential market, if they can be persuaded to commit to a subscription. 

How to get people to spend more time in coffee shops

With Starbucks recently taking steps to encourage customers to spend more time in their branches, what would actually make people want to do that? 

The answer is a mixed bag, depending again on age. 

Shoppers aged between 18 and 24 specifically want to see more comfortable seating and atmosphere, and a quiet space to work or read. Meanwhile people between 45 and 64 aren’t committing to any specific strategy – in fact they under-index for all options EXCEPT that they’re not interested in spending more time in coffee shops. 

There’s also an anomalous group of over 65s who would be compelled by free refills and dine-in perks (59.6% compared to national average of 35.0%), and by comfortable seating and atmosphere (52.6% vs. 30.8%) – though this group’s sample size was smaller, so more research needed into this. 

What US shoppers want to see more of in coffee shops

Here’s what US consumers told us they’d like to see more of in their local coffee shops:

UK results

Coffee shops: social space for women; free Wi-Fi for men

We found that among UK shoppers, there are some differences in the main reasons people visit coffee shops. 

One interesting result is that more than half of women (50.3%) visit coffee shops to meet friends and family, compared to just 37.2% of men. However men are significantly more likely than women to use coffee shops to log onto Wi-Fi or charge devices (14.4% of men vs. 7.3% of women). 

Looking at age-group breakdowns, we see that there are generally more varied reasons young people visit coffee shops, when compared to older groups.

Loyalty gets lost with age

With more and more coffee shops and outlets offering subscriptions, we asked how likely people would be to pay for a monthly subscription for their preferred coffee shop. 

And basically, young people would; older people wouldn’t. 

We found that people under 35 are likely to pay for a coffee subscription (58.0% of 18-24s and 64.8% of 25-34s), while just 26.9% of 45-54s and 16.5% of 55-64s would be likely. 

Digging into the reasons those folks wouldn’t pay for a coffee subscription, we found that the top reasons are:

• I prefer to pay as I go – 51.5%
• I don’t want to be locked into a monthly fee – 43.8%
• I don’t visit coffee shops often enough – 41.6%
• I don’t drink enough coffee to make it worthwhile – 37.5%
• I don’t think it’s good value for money – 21.9%

How to get people into coffee shops

Following Starbucks’ new approach to getting people into their shops, we wanted to find out what might make UK shoppers want to spend more time in coffee shops. 

Overall, free refills or dine-in perks are the one thing that stands out as a way to entice people – 26.6% of UK consumers would be tempted by this. 

And 25-34-year-olds could be an untapped segment for coffee shops. They’re the only age group that over indexes for any strategies – free refills/dine-in perks, and music and a social vibe are what would bring them over the threshold. And at the other end of the age spectrum, people between 45-64 under-index across all responses, except that they’re actively not interested in spending more time in coffee shops. 

What would Brits like to see more of in coffee shops?

We asked our UK respondents what hot drinks they wish coffee shops offered more of. Here’s the summary of their responses:

Take a deeper look at the insights by heading over to our interactive dashboard.