How Rowan Coffee Roasters brought their signature hospitality to an online store

Excellent coffee, every day

After 14 years as a roaster for other brands, Scott Isely launched his own roastery in 2023: Rowan Coffee Roasters. A self-proclaimed coffee snob, he’s as passionate about the experience people have while sipping their favorite brew as he is about the quality of the coffee itself.

So it was only natural that he expanded his roastery to a coffee shop where locals could experience exceptional coffee together.

“My favorite part is coming in every day to roast, and then going out to the cafe to sit and talk to people.”

Early on he knew he wanted to supply other businesses with their coffee, running a wholesale business in tandem with his direct-to-consumer orders. The confluence of in-person sales, online retail orders, and business-to-business wholesale orders, is a common one among coffee roasters.

But the process of adapting a very hands-on, personal business model to an even slightly scaled version plagues many small businesses.

After passing the gauntlet of launching a new brand, Scott found that the software that got them through in the beginning wouldn’t last forever.

Their former setup: Three tools, four workstreams, and lots of frustration

Scott ran the Rowan website and online store through Wix, but managed subscriptions through their Square POS. It was a workflow that had developed naturally as they got their feet off the ground, but became inefficient as they grew.

“People would call in who wanted to set up a subscription, and I’d have to do it super manually. Or if they sent me an email, I’d have to be like, ‘Let's get on a phone call together and I'm going to take all your personal information over the phone and insert it into my POS system.’ It sucked.”

To get better shipping rates and control over packages, he was using Shippo’s platform. But that meant having two dashboards open: orders fulfilled in Wix, labels printed from Shippo.

At the same time, he was managing wholesale through text messages, phone calls, and email. For a few accounts, it worked fine. But as business grew, he knew it was unsustainable.

Switching from Wix to Merchant Tech

When Scott decided to switch to Merchant Tech, it was for three reasons:

1. Having everything in one place.

No longer having his online DTC orders, customer subscriptions, and wholesale accounts managed in three separate places.

2. Personal customer support.

From the demo and pre-migration calls, he could tell the attention and personal customer service Merchant Tech provided would be above and beyond industry standard.

3. A hassle-free, thorough migration service.

Migration is a scary prospect for any ecommerce store owner. Merchant Tech’s offer to handle the migration from start to finish, including a complete transfer of current store info and a 1:1 replica of their website, was exactly the reassurance Scott needed to commit to switching.

What it was like to migrate

Over a call with the migration specialist, they mapped product details, subscription rules, wholesale price tiers, and the DTC catalog into his new dashboard.

Gift cards and discount codes came across intact. A customer could place an order the morning of the migration, and their gift card worked the way it always had.

Scott’s website had the same design, layout, and functionality he’d built on Wix. Customers who landed on the new store would be met with the same familiar storefront they expected.

During the migration, Merchant Tech also picked up a few things Scott had been wanting to change on the site, including how products displayed on the storefront.

His old store stayed live the whole time, catching orders as they came in. When it was ready, they walked through a full review of the new storefront together, Scott signed it off, and the migration team made sure the domain transitioned smoothly.

What’s changed: One workstream, happier customers, and fewer headaches for the team

Now that he can manage retail orders, wholesale accounts, subscriptions, and shipping all from one dashboard, things don’t slip through the cracks or take up as much time.

"It’s a much more merchant-friendly platform than I’m used to. Just all the little things you find yourself wanting to do, are actually possible."

At the start of the day, Scott hops on to see the day's orders, review new wholesale inquiries, and check the calendar for upcoming subscription orders.

Wholesale customers can login to see their products and prices (Scott sets prices per account and picks the payment terms for each: some accounts pay at checkout, some get invoiced on agreed net terms, some are set up as a recurring subscription), and place orders on their payment terms. They can also view their full order history and pay open invoices from their customer portal.

With shipping baked into order fulfillment, Scott can fulfill orders in one fell swoop, without sacrificing carrier rate shopping or control over packages.

Before, he used a flat-rate shipping model because it was the best way to keep costs low for customers. Now, with both live carrier rate options and smart packing configurations, he can rest assured that they’re getting the best rates and he’s not sacrificing his margins to cover shipping.

A true partnership

Thanks to Scott’s feedback, Merchant Tech has had the privilege of improving the platform along the way. When Rowan migrated, for example, they had a handful of longtime subscribers with “grandfathered-in” prices they wanted to honor. Merchant Tech built per-customer subscription pricing and that feature is now available to every merchant on the platform.

It’s a fitting extension of a business committed to taking care of people. Hospitality is at the heart of Rowan’s promise: “Excellent coffee, every day.” Merchant Tech simply gives Scott more ways to carry that experience from the cafe to online.

If you're running low on beans, head to Rowan’s website and try something new. We promise you won’t be disappointed.

Kate Maruyama

Kate is a Senior Editor at Merchant Tech where she oversees content that helps merchants understand platform tools, optimize their online stores, and grow their businesses.