Meow-sure Your Success: 7 Essential KPIs for Cat Cafes

Are you a cat lover who is thinking about opening a cat cafe or already running one? If so, you know that it's more than just cuddles and purrs. It's a business that requires tracking various KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to ensure its success.

According to the latest industry research, the top seven KPIs for cat cafes are: number of adoptions, customer satisfaction, revenue growth, beverage sales per customer, merchandise sales per customer, social media engagement, and employee turnover rate.

• Number of adoptions is an essential KPI since it measures how successful your cafe is in helping cats find their forever homes. It also helps you track how efficient your adoption process is.
• Customer satisfaction is another critical KPI because it affects your cafe's reputation, word-of-mouth marketing, and customer retention rate. It also enables you to improve your cafe's experience and customer service.
• Revenue growth is a primary KPI that indicates if your cat cafe is profitable and gaining momentum financially.

Want to know more about these top seven KPIs that can make or break your cat cafe? Let's dive deeper into each one to understand how to track and calculate them.

Number of adoptions

Cat cafes are a unique business that can provide customers with a fun experience while helping cats find their forever homes. Tracking the number of adoptions at your cat cafe is an essential key performance indicator (KPI) that can help you measure the success of your business.

Definition

Number of adoptions is a KPI that tracks the number of cats that are adopted from your cat cafe. This metric can help you understand how successful your cafe is at finding homes for cats in need.

Use Case

If you are running a cat cafe, the number of adoptions is an important KPI to track. This metric can help you to:

• Measure the success of your adoption program
• Identify areas for improvement in your adoption process
• Show potential investors or partners the impact your cafe is having on animal welfare

How To Calculate KPI

The formula to calculate the number of adoptions is:

Calculation Example

Let's say your cat cafe adopted out 50 cats in the month of August. Using the formula above, the number of adoptions for August would be:

KPI Advantages

The advantages of tracking number of adoptions as a KPI include:

• It helps you measure the success of your cafe in finding homes for cats.
• This KPI can help you identify any potential issues with your adoption process.
• The number of adoptions can be a useful metric to show investors or partners the impact your cafe is having on animal welfare.

KPI Disadvantages

Some disadvantages of using the number of adoptions as a KPI are:

• This metric only measures the number of cats adopted out and not the success of the adoption in terms of cat and owner happiness.
• If your cafe is located in an area with high competition, it may be challenging to increase the number of adoptions.

KPI Industry Benchmarks

It's difficult to generalize industry benchmarks for the number of cat adoptions as it varies significantly depending on the location, size of the cafe, and the number of cats available for adoption. However, some industry averages can serve as a useful point of reference. According to the Cat Cafe Census, the average number of cats adopted per month in a cat cafe is approximately 15-20.

Customer Satisfaction

As a cat cafe owner, one of your top priorities should be ensuring that your customers are satisfied with their experience. Not only does this lead to repeat business and positive word of mouth, but it also provides valuable feedback on areas where you can improve.

Definition

Customer satisfaction is a metric that measures how content customers are with the products or services they receive. In the context of a cat cafe, this encompasses everything from the cleanliness of the space to the quality of the coffee and pastries served.

Use Case

Monitoring customer satisfaction is especially important for cat cafes because patrons come for more than just the coffee - they come for the cats! As such, the overall experience of interacting with the cats, watching them play, and potentially adopting them is just as important as the food and beverages.

How To Calculate KPI

The formula for calculating customer satisfaction is:

Calculation Example

Let's say you surveyed 100 customers and 80 of them reported a positive experience at your cat cafe. The calculation would look like this:

So, your cat cafe's customer satisfaction rating would be 80%.

KPI Advantages

• Helps you identify areas where customer experience can be improved
• Provides a snapshot of overall customer sentiment

KPI Disadvantages

• Subjective - different customers may have different expectations
• Doesn't take into account repeat customers who may have a more nuanced opinion

KPI Industry Benchmarks

The industry benchmark for customer satisfaction in the food and beverage industry is typically around 80%. However, since cat cafes are a relatively new phenomenon, there isn't yet a specific benchmark for this niche area.

Revenue Growth

When it comes to measuring the success of your cat cafe, revenue growth is a key performance indicator (KPI) that needs to be tracked. In this chapter, we'll explore the definition, use case, how to calculate, calculation example, advantages, disadvantages, and industry benchmarks for this KPI.

Definition

Revenue growth is a KPI that measures how much the cat cafe's revenue has increased or decreased over a certain period of time. This is typically calculated on a yearly basis, but it can also be broken down by quarter or month.

Use Case

Revenue growth is a valuable KPI to track because it helps cat cafe owners determine the success of their business. Ideally, a cat cafe should be seeing a steady increase in revenue year over year, indicating a growing customer base and increased customer loyalty. If revenue growth is stagnating or decreasing, it may be an indication that changes need to be made to the cafe's business strategy.

How to Calculate KPI

To calculate revenue growth, use the following formula:

Calculation Example

If a cat cafe had revenue of $100,000 last year and revenue of $120,000 this year, the calculation would be:

Therefore, the revenue growth for this cat cafe is 20%.

KPI Advantages

• Helps measure the success of the cat cafe's business strategy
• Indicates customer loyalty and growing customer base
• Provides insight into overall financial health of the cat cafe

KPI Disadvantages

• Does not take into account inflation or changes in expenses
• Can be negatively impacted by external factors, such as a recession or pandemic

KPI Industry Benchmarks

According to industry benchmarks, the average revenue growth for a cat cafe is around 15-20% per year. However, this can vary greatly depending on the location, customer base, and overall business strategy of the cat cafe.

Beverage sales per customer

One of the key performance indicators (KPIs) for cat cafes is beverage sales per customer. This metric can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your menu and pricing strategy. Here's a detailed explanation of everything you need to know about this KPI.

Definition

Beverage sales per customer is a KPI that measures the average amount of money a customer spends on beverages during a visit. This includes both hot and cold beverages such as coffee, tea, soda, and juice.

Use Case

Measuring beverage sales per customer can help cat cafes understand the demand for different types of beverages and how pricing affects customer behavior. This KPI can also help cafes optimize their menu for profitability by identifying which beverages have the highest profit margins.

How To Calculate KPI

To calculate beverage sales per customer, divide the total revenue from beverage sales by the total number of customers during a specific period of time (usually a day or week). Here's the formula:

Calculation Example

Let's say your cat cafe generated $500 in beverage sales during a busy Saturday, and you had 75 customers. To calculate the beverage sales per customer, use the formula:

So, on average, each customer spent $6.67 on beverages during their visit.

KPI Advantages

• Helps track demand for different types of beverages and pricing strategies
• Can help optimize menu for profitability
• Provides insights into customer behavior and preferences

KPI Disadvantages

• Does not account for customers who do not purchase beverages
• Can be influenced by outliers, such as large groups or events

KPI Industry Benchmarks

The average beverage sales per customer for cat cafes in the US is around $5-$7. However, this can vary depending on factors such as location, menu offerings, and pricing strategy.

Merchandise sales per customer

One of the most important KPIs for cat cafes is Merchandise sales per customer, which helps track the average amount of money each customer spends on merchandise items while visiting the cafe.

Definition

The Merchandise sales per customer KPI measures the average amount of money each customer spends on merchandise items while visiting the cat cafe.

Use Case

This KPI is particularly useful for cat cafes as it helps in measuring the profitability of the cafe's merchandise sales and tracks the effectiveness of the cafe's promotions and product placement strategies.

How To Calculate KPI

To calculate the Merchandise sales per customer KPI, use the following formula:

Calculation Example

If the total merchandise sales are $1,000 and there were 100 customers, the calculation would be as follows:

The Merchandise sales per customer KPI for this cat cafe in this example would be $10 per customer.

KPI Advantages

• Helps measure merchandise sales profitability.
• Allows you to calculate the amount spent on merchandise by each customer and make changes to the cat cafe's product line or promotions strategy to increase sales.
• Helps track customer engagement levels with merchandise when compared to other KPIs, like 'Number of purchases overall.'

KPI Disadvantages

• The KPI can be influenced by special or seasonal promotions, which may result in a higher or lower than average value for this metric.
• Does not take into account the different nature of sales of food and beverage compared with merchandise.
• The KPI does not have a direct impact on customer satisfaction or customer loyalty.

KPI Industry Benchmarks

The industry standards for Merchandise sales per customer vary depending on the type of merchandise sold and your business's location. However, cat cafes in most regions have a range of $8 to $15 per customer.

Social Media Engagement

Social media engagement is the measurement of the level of interaction between a cat cafe's social media account and its followers. It is a crucial KPI for any cat cafe aiming to create an online community and increase brand awareness.

Definition

Measuring social media engagement is the process of evaluating how well a cat cafe's social media content is resonating with its target audience. It encompasses activities such as likes, shares, comments, and overall interactions with a brand's social media content.

Use Case

Understanding social media engagement helps cat cafes to evaluate the effectiveness of their social media strategies. It helps in gauging the type of content that resonates with the target audience and drives engagement. This, in turn, allows cat cafes to optimize their social media content and marketing strategies for better results.

How To Calculate KPI

The formula to calculate social media engagement is simple:

Calculation Example

Let's say the cat cafe's Facebook page has 500 followers and a particular post receives 100 likes, 25 shares, and 15 comments. The social media engagement rate of that post would be:

KPI Advantages

• Provides insights into the target audience's preferences
• Allows cat cafes to track the impact of their social media marketing campaigns
• Helps in measuring the ROI of social media efforts

KPI Disadvantages

• Does not reflect the quality of interactions
• Does not measure brand sentiment or consumer loyalty
• May not be an accurate representation of overall brand performance

KPI Industry Benchmarks

The industry benchmark for social media engagement varies depending on the target audience and the industry. However, a benchmark of 0.6% to 2% is considered average. In contrast, 2% and above are considered excellent engagement rates for a cat cafe.

Employee turnover rate

Employee turnover rate is a crucial KPI for any business, including cat cafes. Employee turnover rate measures the number of employees who leave the company and need to be replaced within a certain period, usually a year. High employee turnover rate is a sign of poor management, low morale, and inadequate workplace culture, which can lead to decreased productivity, lower revenue, and higher expenses. Therefore, tracking employee turnover rate is essential to improving employee satisfaction and reducing costs.

Definition

Employee turnover rate is the percentage of employees who leave the company in a certain period divided by the total number of employees at the start of the period.

Use Case

• Assessing employee satisfaction and retention
• Identifying areas for improvement in management, HR, and workplace culture
• Reducing hiring and training costs
• Increasing productivity and revenue

How To Calculate KPI

Calculation Example

Assuming a cat cafe has 50 employees at the start of the year and 10 employees leave during the year, the employee turnover rate is 20%.

KPI Advantages

• Provides insights into employee satisfaction and retention
• Helps identify areas for improvement in management and workplace culture
• Reduces hiring and training costs
• Increase productivity and revenue by retaining more experienced and skilled employees

KPI Disadvantages

• May not reflect the reasons behind employee turnover, such as retirement, relocation, or desirable job offers
• May not account for new positions created or existing positions eliminated during the period
• May not consider seasonal or cyclical variations in business activity and employment

KPI Industry Benchmarks

According to nationalskillscoalition.org, the average annual employee turnover rate across all industries in the US was around 19% in 2019. However, the turnover rate varies significantly by industry, with the leisure and hospitality industry having the highest rate of 35%, and the finance and insurance industry having the lowest rate of 10%. Therefore, it is essential to compare the employee turnover rate of a cat cafe with the industry benchmarks to assess its competitiveness and potential for improvement.