Introduction:During the Golden Week holiday, the F&B industry saw a long-awaited surge in customer traffic, yet independent coffee shops experienced extreme polarization. While some shops were so overwhelmed with orders that they blew their circuit breakers, others near tourist attractions and office buildings sold as few as 19 cups in a single day. This article dissects these two contrasting business scenarios through real cases, analyzes the key differentiating factors between peak and off-peak seasons, and offers adjustment strategies for small and medium-sized coffee shop operators to help them seize holiday opportunities and manage subsequent operations.
With the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays overlapping, this year’s Golden Week became the longest consumption window of the year. The overall F&B market saw a significant rebound, but the performance of independent coffee shops presented a striking contrast. Some stores were busier than ever, with baristas working non-stop to the point of overloading electrical circuits. Meanwhile, other operators faced deserted shops, with tourist-area stores selling just 19 cups in a day and office districts even quieter.
According to feedback from on-site operators, the typical characteristics of high-volume stores were fully occupied seating and fast table turnover, with new customers streaming in from morning till night. Staff were so busy they couldn’t even keep up with washing cups, and brewing equipment frequently became too hot from constant use—even extending business hours couldn’t handle the volume of orders. Notably, these high-traffic stores were often located in popular commercial areas or tourist hubs, and had prepared in advance with inventory and staffing to handle holiday peaks.
In contrast, low-performing stores often struggled due to location-specific factors and a mismatch in customer expectations. Although tourist-area shops were nominally expected to see large crowds during the holidays, actual visitor numbers were much lower than anticipated due to traffic controls and altered sightseeing routes. Office districts, meanwhile, lost their regular clientele due to company holidays, and extended hours did little to make up for the shortfall. One shop owner admitted they had hoped National Day would compensate for sluggish daily sales, only to find that daily revenue was even lower than an average weekday afternoon.
An in-depth analysis of this polarization reveals three key contributing factors:Location selection,Customer segmentation, andHoliday expectation management. Stores in popular commercial areas usually benefit from natural foot traffic and had proactively adjusted their product offerings for the holidays—such as introducing espresso combos suitable for takeout or travel-sized pour-over filter packs. In contrast, stores in less favorable locations that failed to plan ahead with online promotions or delivery partnerships risked losing visibility during the holiday period.
For operators facing an off-season, it is recommended to adjust strategies in three directions: First, re-evaluate location characteristics and consider adjusting business hours or pivoting to a takeout-focused model; second, strengthen online community engagement by using reservations or limited-edition products to attract specific customer groups; third, optimize cost structure—for example, adjusting raw material procurement and staffing levels before and after the holidays to avoid excessive fixed costs. One operator shared that by collaborating with nearby businesses to launch joint events ahead of time, they successfully boosted customer traffic in the latter half of the holiday.
The business disparities observed during this Golden Week provide valuable insights for coffee shop operators. Whether experiencing surging orders or slow sales, both reflect the trend of market demand becoming more segmented. It is advised that operators develop flexible strategies based on their own conditions while also preparing for potential upcoming consumption slumps, in order to maintain stable operations in a competitive market.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
