Cropster Responds to Pandemic with Online Shop Platform Shipsbeans

An example of what a Shipsbeans sight looks like. Image courtesy of Cropster.

Coffee-focused software and digital solutions provider Cropster has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with a platform called Shipsbeans for roasters to quickly set up online sales.

Cropster said Shipsbeans will be available for free to all its customers for the duration of the novel coronavirus pandemic, as defined by the World Health Organization.

While roasters have been getting creative in their attempts to accommodate upticks in online delivery requests as more consumers ostensibly prepare coffee at home, the Shipsbeans platform appears to provide a no-frills, mobile-optimized and relatively quick solution for roasters, retailers or others throughout the supply chain who may be new to the online selling game.

“When we started to see COVID-19 was going to impact our customers, we started asking, ‘What can we do to help them?'” the Cropster founders said in an announcement of the platform late last week. “We see the restrictions on roasteries, coffee shops and their customers increasing daily. We also see many businesses quickly moving their focus to their online shops and services. As techies we know that can bring its own challenges. So we pulled together our team and created a few initiatives.”

Features of the Shipsbeans platform include: a shop description and overview with product photos, names and prices; individual product pages that may include coffee information such as farm, weight, name, etc.; a shopping cart and credit payment section; an order overview page; and recommendations for legal pages.

Cropster said it leveraged its experience building its online green coffee trading platform, Cropster Hub, to develop the Shipsbeans platform within days of the pandemic declaration.

As of this writing, the platform is only available to Cropster customers (for free), although the company encourages interested businesses who are not customers to reach out to them. The platform is also currently only available in English, though more languages may be coming.

“Our goal is to help you reach your customers via this important sales channel immediately,” Cropster says. “What happens after the pandemic is over? We will evaluate the situation. Shipsbeans is a temporary solution for a temporary problem.”