This One Small Thing Grew Our Sales by 220%

Oh my daaaaays.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve parked up in front of this beautiful Apple Mac, thrown on some tunes (currently vibing to Sultans of Swing), and written a SL.OWstack. But fam… we are baaaaaack.

Now, I’m not one for excuses. So I’ll be real with you — the reason there’s been radio silence here is because the Substack just hasn’t been the top priority while we’ve been grinding behind the scenes to build something new.

👉🏼 Our brand new website.
Yes, this is a shameless plug riiiiight right right right hereeeeeee.
Click this link. Trust me. Even if you don’t buy anything, your eyeballs are in for a treat. I’ll drop it again at the bottom so you can read this whole stack first.

So, let’s talk numbers.
Not here to clickbait you — it’s true. We grew our online sales by 220% in just 3 weeks. How?
We launched our new site and flicked the switch on international shipping. That’s it. Same coffee. Same crew. Just with a new, buttery-smooth experience that finally feels like us.

We're still doing what we've always done — roasting unreal coffee, helping people slow down, and trying to make the world a little better through flavour, story, and culture.

But this spike got me thinking:
How fickle are we as modern consumers?
And how important it is as a business to realise that the tiniest details can create the biggest shifts.

The Vibe Shift
We obsessed over how to make people feel something the moment they landed on the site. We love minimalism — but with minimal, there’s always the risk of it feeling… bland. So how did we fix that?

You’re probably asking, well tell me then mate — how did you do it?
Mmmmm... it’s a secret ;)

Nah it’s not. It’s actually super simple.
Colour.
But used sparingly and deliberately.

Now, one small issue — I’m colourblind.
(MAJOR issue when you’re picking colours for a brand lol.)

Enter: my business partner Jonte + ChatGPT. Absolute dream team.

We used subtle pops of colour throughout the site to draw attention where it matters. And we leaned into gradients — they’re now telling the story of each coffee visually, and they look epic on the bags too.

The result?
A site that doesn’t just look clean — it feels good to be on. It flows better, the checkout’s smoother, and overall, it’s just a better customer experience.

Still plenty to learn. Still a few headaches. But honestly — that’s the fun part. Building is meant to be challenging. Solving the hard stuff is what keeps it interesting.

Going Global 🌍

Launching global shipping with DHL Express was massive for us.
Within the first week, we had orders flying out to the USA, Spain, France, Germany — and honestly, it was emotional. It’s something we’ve talked about for ages, and to see it finally happening? Magic.

We’ve gone global — and we’re just getting started.
The plan is to push global wholesale hard in the second half of this year. Soooooooo…

If you’re overseas and reading this — or you know of a café that should be slinging SL.OW coffee — send them our way.
Our wholesale page is live and waiting.
Or just place an order yourself — I’ll personally pack it with love before it leaves the roastery.

slowcoffee.co.nz
You know what to do 🙌🏼

As always. It’s a true treat to hang with you all. I’m sorry it’s been so long. But I’ll see you again real soon.

the world moves really fast. please. SL.OW down.

Sam