B Bagel have been in the bagel game for a long time, over 30 years! What’s more their bagels are a family recipe, perfected at home, using only the finest ingredients without any additives whatsoever. Everything is baked, prepared and presented in store. They’ve perfected the recipe, the process and they’ve built a loyal customer base, they just needed help perfecting the online experience!
Having started online ordering as an answer to the pandemic, they identified an opportunity to take things further and make online ordering a part of their overall strategy. But their existing solution didn’t meet their changing needs. It was slow, and clunky, they realised they needed an upgrade, which is how they found Slerp.
Since partnering with us we’ve seen them go from strength to strength. We figured they’d be the perfect partner to help explain the importance of D2C in a modern business. So we sat down with Sabrina Da Mata (head of operations) to talk all things D2C, online ordering and most importantly, BAGELS.
1. Why were you looking to change providers and what made you choose Slerp?
Our CEO found and chose Slerp. We were previously doing online ordering but our old website didn’t bring enough freedom. It was hard to use and difficult to control things like the opening times and stock levels. With Slerp, everything is available at a touch.
2. How have you found the onboarding process?
Everything was ready and smooth. We had a few small teething issues but all of them have been resolved quickly.
3. How important is online ordering to your business?
Very. It makes up roughly 40-50% of our business.
Smoked Salmon Mini Bagel Platter
Hot Salt Beef, Chicken Schnitzel, Sausage & Hash Brown, Pastrami, Smoked Salmon, Omelette
4. Why did you decide to start online ordering?
We started online ordering for our catering business pre-pandemic as this was the natural way to launch. We’re now continuing on with Slerp because the process is 100% improved on our old system and much easier. Online ordering is much better for us and far more accurate. It’s also a better experience for the customer.
5. How do you market your online offering?
We use an agency who run a combination of things for us. They are in charge of all our socials (instagram and twitter). But we know we can do more and we want to do more.
6. What’s your most popular item on the menu?
We’ve got three top sellers; the mini bagels classic platter, the smoked salmon, and our Challah ‘Sweet Tooth’s’ mini bagels (a sweet brioche style which is a Jewish tradition).
7. Do you use a special or unique ingredient?
The most unique thing about B Bagel is that we boil our bagels. Most companies just bake theirs which can make them very dry. Ours are very moist and use just 4 ingredients, nothing else. Less is more!
The B Bagel process – from boil to baked
8. Now that you’re with us, what has been your favourite thing about Slerp?
I’ve gone from driving an old beetle to learning to drive a ferrari! We’re definitely still in the learning phase. There is so much that you can do with Slerp – loyalty & discounts to name a few and we want to do more. But just being able to easily accept online orders is great. It simplifies our process and helps us with trustpilot reviews, saves time and is very straight forward. It is a much faster checkout experience and as a result we are building better customer relationships!
9. What’s been your biggest challenge with online ordering?
We have no challenges at the moment – not like we had before! We are very happy. I bet this is the ideal marketing response *laughs*
10. What’s your top tip for someone thinking about launching online ordering?
I think speed – having a quicker process that meets the customer’s needs makes a real difference. In my years in hospitality I have learnt about the importance of managing expectations. If you manage these you won’t have any issues. Be honest and transparent, don’t try to find someone to blame, take responsibility and accountability when something goes wrong. This is the key to driving repeat business… and the bagels are really good too btw.
B Bagel are the perfect example of a company who jumped headfirst into online ordering as a solution to covid, but as a result have identified an opportunity for long term growth, and are keen to continue to refine and improve their offering. It’s okay not to have everything figured out straight away. D2C is a process and one that we are here to support you with every step of the way.