How Aroom elevated the Vietnamese coffee experience in Seattle

Rachel, Aroom Coffee, Seattle

Making coffee shop dreams a reality with Square.

Rachel grew up drinking coffee every day in her home country of Vietnam. When she and her parents immigrated to the United States, she noticed there was a lack of Vietnamese coffee shops in Seattle. Vietnamese coffee wasn’t unheard of in the city — people knew of Vietnam’s robust beans and condensed milk — but she dreamed of bringing it to the masses in a beautiful coffee shop experience.

She also dreamed of giving her parents a place where they could work for themselves — a place that could help them retire one day. Rachel grew up drinking her dad’s Vietnamese coffee and knew how special it was, so the idea was born to bring the coffee she loved to everyone she knew.

“We want to introduce people to the coffee that we grew up drinking and we’ve been loving. We want to elevate it more.”

— Rachel Dang
Owner, Aroom Coffee

“Square allows us to be ourselves in design, theme, and language.”

— Dang

Choosing a point of sale that matched their aesthetic

Not only does Aroom make delicious and aesthetic coffees, but they make those coffees in an environment that’s just as beautiful. Rachel says her inspiration behind the design of Aroom was to build a space where guests could feel creative, work on projects, and be inspired.

When looking for a point of sale for Aroom, Rachel says considering how it looked made up 90% of the decision. Rachel was immediately drawn to the “stylish and modern” design of Square. Not having a clunky cash drawer was important for looks, but also for store safety. And when Aroom upgraded to Square Register, her customers noticed and the compliments started flowing in.

“We are very aesthetic people. So when we looked at the Square hardware system, we said, ‘This is the one we want to put in our place.’”

— Dang

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Keeping up with customer demand for coffee.

Square isn’t just easy to use for employees, it’s also straightforward for customers, which is something Rachel highly values. The less cumbersome the experience, the better. When setting up online ordering, Rachel stepped into her customers’ shoes and tried it out for herself. She was impressed with how fast she was able to order and check out right from her phone. “In Seattle we have to make everything really fast. People just stop their cars, pick up their coffee and then go. Square is really fast and reliable.”

Being fast and reliable is important, especially when it comes to keeping up with the high demand for Aroom’s iconic customer favorite, the Sesame Latte. But this is where Square really shines. Rachel loves getting analytics from Square, like peak hours, most popular drinks, and how many of those sesame lattes she sells in a day. It helps Aroom be prepared for any morning or afternoon rush in their future.

“The coffee shop business is fast-paced, so the system is really reliable, it’s fast. It makes checking out super easy for customers.”

— Dang

Chatting Coffee with Rachel

Square

In addition to Square Point of Sale, what other Square products do you use?

Rachel

Square Invoices, online ordering, Square Marketing, and we love sending gift cards from Square.

Square

Have your customers given you any feedback on these other Square products?

Rachel

They like every time we send email marketing. Square doesn’t make it look like a promotion email, they make it look like an invitation. When I send it out my customers say, “Oh I always read yours but not others because I like to explore the look of it.”

Square

What’s one thing you want people to know about Aroom?

Rachel

To me, the goal of opening Aroom is to introduce and to spread the word about Vietnamese coffee. And we want to be a meaningful part of the community, where we can contribute back to it.

Square

What’s one thing you would tell people about Square?

Rachel

If you don’t want to stress about setting up a website, you don’t want to stress about setting up a POS system, Square is the one for you. You want to use the time you spend for the business.