First Essential
Case study
Eco Bravo: seamless card payments for a sustainable brand
A plastic-free lifestyle retailer and eco-conscious cafe in Enfield, North London, taking payments the smarter way with First Essential.
A sustainable lifestyle brand with a mission as clear as its products
Eco Bravo started life as a mission: to make it easier for everyday households to swap out single-use plastic and harmful chemicals without the fuss of hunting across a dozen specialist shops. From their Enfield base in North London, the founders built an online shop stocking plastic-free, ethically sourced cleaning products, home essentials, beauty items, and children's ranges, all chosen because they are kinder to the planet and to the people using them.
Then they took the brand a step further and opened Eco Bravo Cafe at the same address: a specialty coffee house and juice bar where the ethos spills into every cup. Compostable packaging, ionised water, ethically sourced beans, and a dog-friendly welcome mat. It is a place where the values behind the online shop are visible, tangible, and served with a smile, making Enfield's high street a little greener every day.
Two businesses, one team, and the payments to match
Running a values-led business means holding every supplier to the same standard you hold your products to. When Eco Bravo came to us, they had two distinct trading operations under one roof: the online shop processing card payments through their website, and the cafe taking payments over the counter from customers buying coffees, juices, and pastries. Each side had its own rhythm, its own busy periods, and its own need for a checkout experience that was quick, reliable, and did not let them down mid-service.
What they needed was not complicated, but it mattered: a payments partner who understood the difference between retail and hospitality, confirmed their rates clearly upfront, and was available when something needed sorting. Not a faceless provider hiding behind a ticket queue, but a UK team they could actually reach.
Helping Eco Bravo take payments with confidence
We got to know both sides of the business before recommending anything. The cafe trades face-to-face, with busy morning rushes and quick turnarounds where a slow or unreliable card terminal is a real problem. The online shop serves customers right across the UK, so the payment experience there needed to be seamless and trustworthy from the moment a customer reached the checkout.
We put card payment facilities in place that covered both. For the cafe, a reliable in-person terminal suited to counter service, so the team could move fast and customers did not have to wait. For the shop, an online payments setup that sat cleanly alongside their Shopify store. Rates were confirmed at setup, in writing, with no surprises hidden in the detail. And because Eco Bravo is exactly the kind of business that asks sensible questions, we made sure they had straight answers before anything was agreed.
One solution that understood two different operations
The thing that made this straightforward was treating both sides of Eco Bravo's business with equal care. A lot of providers are set up for one model or the other: either they know retail, or they know hospitality. Eco Bravo needed a partner who could handle both without asking them to manage two separate relationships.
Cafe payments
A dependable card terminal for the counter, keeping service moving during the morning rush and quieter afternoon trade alike, with contactless and chip and PIN covered.
Online retail payments
Online payment facilities running alongside the Eco Bravo shop, giving customers a clean, trustworthy checkout experience from any device across the UK.
A values-led business deserves a payments partner that treats it with the same care it gives its customers. We made sure everything was transparent before they signed a thing.
A payments setup that keeps up with a growing sustainable brand
With payments sorted across both their retail and cafe operations, Eco Bravo can put their energy where it belongs: bringing more plastic-free, ethically sourced products to customers around the UK, and keeping their corner of Enfield well-stocked with specialty coffee and fresh juices.
The checkout experience, in the cafe and online, now works as cleanly as the values behind the brand. There is no chasing someone when the terminal plays up, no confusion about what they are paying, and no gap between the care they put into their products and the experience customers have at the point of buying them. One UK team, one number to call, and a setup that simply works.
Payment solutions and more for retail and hospitality
Whether you run a shop, a cafe, or both, First Essential has the tools to keep your business running smoothly.
Card payments
Card machines, Tap to Pay and online payments with competitive rates from 0.3%, confirmed at setup. Rates vary by card type and business.
Learn moreEPOS and till systems
Smart EPOS tills that keep sales, stock and reporting in one place, plus a free card machine when you take EPOS.
Learn moreFirst Essential One
Our all-in-one platform with a 14-day free trial, built to help you capture leads, follow up and get paid.
Learn moreWant results like Eco Bravo?
Whether you run a shop, a cafe, or both, we can get your payments sorted quickly, with transparent pricing and UK support behind you 7 days a week.
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