How to guide: Measuring your reusables progress

Take a moment to work out how much single-use packaging you’re using and then calculate what it all costs. This will help you to set clear goals and measure  track your progress towards them. If possible, base your calculations on the last years’ worth of data from your packaging orders and 6–12 months of POS (point of sale) reports.

Use your sales figures to set future goals which will keep you motivated and further help you track progress. If you’re starting a mug library, for example, set an achievable target (e.g. getting 10% of customers to use your free borrow cups within the first 3 months) and calculate how many sales this will equal.

If you’re aiming to increase BYO behaviour, you’ll need to be set up to count the number of takeaway customers who present a reusable when they order (per below).  Start with the standard target of 10% of sales and once your team is used to recording the data,  increase the goal to 20% of takeaway customers, by a specific date.

Your POS is the perfect tool for tracking your progress with reusables.  Firstly, decide what you need to measure, based on your goals. You could simply track sales of drinks served in single-use cups versus reusables. Or you could break down the reusables categories to capture whether the sale was for a dine-in order and if the reusable was BYO or one from your cup swap system or mug library.

Most POS systems will let you create a specific button for each option, automatically record the date every time the button is pressed, and include the results  in your monthly reports. It’s a good idea to add an option for every purchase, so staff get into the habit of always selecting one over others, not just one. That is, rather than just adding a ‘reusable’ button, add ‘reusable’ and ‘single-use’.

Follow the instructions your POS manufacturer provided,  ask your local company rep, or call the tech support line,  if you need help to set it up. Once you have it programmed, do a few trial runs to make sure it is running smoothly and integrates seamlessly into your workflow. Be sure to consult your team and ask them to confirm  it is  intuitive and easy to use. If not, incorporate their feedback on how to streamline the process when you re-program it.

Remember to include your staff and always explain the ‘why’ behind every step, to help ease the transition when there’s changes to the way you usually do things, especially if you are met with any initial resistance.

As well as continuing to include your staff in the process and the decision making, the Reusable Café Project recommends offering incentives to encourage team members to suggest reusables to customers, explain how  your library or system  works and remember to input POS data. For example,  introduce a sustainable staff member of the month award and give out prizes.

Check your sales reports every month and compare the data to previous results. If you aren’t seeing increases in reusables,  put together a checklist of your  process and try to identify roadblocks or problems. For example, are reusable options always offered to customers? Is your signage highly visible? Are incentives lacking?

As you continue to track your progress, think about whether you need to develop new strategies and/or trial fresh ideas. For example, try offering a small discount for reusables and monitor the change. Then gradually introduce other incentives. By introducing a staged implementation, testing  your approach and adjusting it based on your results, you can gauge what’s working and what isn’t.

Our Five steps to reuse success fact sheet offers top tips, as do the project’s case studies.

Once your campaign is established and the café is hitting its reusable targets, aim higher and revise your goals. To  elevate  your reusable uptake , focus on:

• leveraging social media
• encouraging staff to keep engaging with single-use cup customers
• increasing  incentives when customers interest wanes.

You can also consider de-incentivising single-use cup orders by adding a surcharge.

When your system has been in place for a while, ask staff and customers to complete a short  survey to drill down on their opinions. You can use the survey to inform future initiatives and overcome any challenges reusables pose to staff, customers and the local community.

Turn your insights into action as you prepare for the next phase of your reusables campaign.