Sightglass Coffee returns to Recharge to leverage data and automation as they scale
About
Sightglass Coffee is a San Francisco–based roaster known for its meticulous craft and emphasis on quality. The brand’s ecommerce arm has grown steadily over the past few years, and as subscriptions became a key part of its business model, the team began reevaluating how the right technology partner could help them scale. With their current platform, data was difficult to surface, reporting required manual work, and the team lacked the visibility and collaboration needed to make strategic decisions
A hand holding a coffee container featuring the Sightglass logo.
Sightglass has ambitious plans to double its ecommerce business within three years. To achieve that, they needed more from their subscription platform and turned to Recharge to provide the insight, agility, and partnership required to operate at scale.
“On our previous platform, we were spending too much time trying to piece together data and not enough time taking action. With Recharge, everything is built in—the analytics, the tools, the partnership. It’s like night and day.”
Florent Cantat
Head of Ecommerce and Digital at Sightglass Coffee
Challenge
One of the major frustrations Sightglass faced was in their reporting. The team needed to understand what was happening with subscriptions in real time, without spending hours reconciling data. On their previous platform, even simple metrics like subscription take rate or cohort performance had to be pieced together manually. The lack of robust analytics made it harder to identify opportunities or act quickly on trends.
At the same time, the team felt disconnected from product support. Communication was limited, and the lack of a dedicated contact meant small issues often slowed progress.
Compounding these frustrations was a lingering perception inside Sightglass that Recharge might be “too complicated.” Years earlier, the brand had used an older version of the platform, and memories of that experience, like separate checkouts, heavier setup, still lingered. They needed to determine whether Recharge had evolved to meet their expectations.
A hand holding a bag of coffee labeled Winter Solstice by Sightglass.
Solution
After reviewing Recharge’s platform developments and roadmap, the decision to return became clear. Recharge had matured into a platform built for long-term growth, offering robust subscription analytics, powerful experimentation tools, and an expanding suite of retention products. The ability to access rich, real-time insights with minimal effort meant Sightglass could spend less time wrestling with spreadsheets and more time turning data into strategies to optimize the subscriber experience.
Partnership also played a defining role. From the first conversations, Sightglass saw the difference in approach—a dedicated Customer Success Manager, consistent communication, and transparency around upcoming releases. That visibility into product innovation gave Sightglass confidence that Recharge was investing in the same areas that mattered most to their team: data, loyalty, and retention.
The migration itself proved surprisingly simple. Florent led it end-to-end with minimal support from the Sightglass development team, relying primarily on guidance from Recharge. What might have seemed like a heavy lift turned out to be a straightforward process, allowing the team to switch platforms while simultaneously managing a website refresh. For Sightglass, the smooth transition underscored a new level of usability and support.
Results
Sightglass Coffee now operates with a level of clarity and control that simply wasn’t possible before. Recharge’s advanced subscription analytics deliver complete visibility into the subscription lifecycle, capturing metrics like take rate, cohort performance, and cancellation drivers in real time. These analytics don’t just show what happened; they explain why, uncovering patterns behind growth and churn. By turning raw data into actionable insight, Recharge enables Sightglass Coffee to move from analysis to execution, making faster, smarter decisions that directly fuel retention and revenue growth.
Experimentation has become central to that process. Within the first few weeks on Recharge, Sightglass launched an A/B test on Upcoming Order Emails to measure cross-sell performance. The ability to test, iterate, and validate results gives the team confidence to scale proven strategies faster. That agility helped the brand incorporate real results directly into its financial model, strengthening the assumptions behind its three-year plan.
The partnership itself continues to create momentum. With a dedicated CSM, a clear view of the roadmap, and new retention tools on the horizon, Sightglass has the foundation to expand its subscription program without adding complexity. As the team explores features like Referrals and Concierge SMS, they’re building a subscription experience designed to grow alongside their customers and their ambitions.
“Migrations are intimidating, but Recharge made it seamless and straightforward. With their guidance, I didn’t even need to pull in our developers. Everything was up and running in a matter of days. And so far, the platform experience has been the same: smooth, reliable, and exactly what we needed to move faster.”
Florent Cantat
Head of Ecommerce and Digital at Sightglass Coffee
