Sitting in his office in Omaha, Nebraska, Aaron Hoffman can tell you which ZIP code in Northeast Florida is most ready for a new coffee shop.
As Hoffman toggles between options on the right side of his computer screen, the locations of competitors to his brand, Scooter’s Coffee, appear on the screen. Hoffman, sharing his screen on a Google Meet video call, fiddles some more, and traffic patterns, consumer metrics and other data is displayed.
Hoffman is vice president of franchise sales for Omaha-based Scooter’s, one of several quick service restaurant coffee shops popping up around Northeast Florida.
QSR coffee shops rely on drive-thru traffic rather than a cafe environment and are capturing an increasing share of the market, taking larger percentages of sales from traditional competitors like Starbucks and Dunkin’…