Starbucks business tips

2023-11-03

When it comes to coffee, many people think of Starbucks. Founded in 1971, the company has grown to become the world's largest coffee chain and a favorite hangout for urban white-collar workers. In the 28 years between Starbucks Inc.'s stock, which went public in June 1992 and 2018, its market capitalization went from $250 million to nearly $82 billion. You know, this is just a company that sells cheap coffee in paper cups, and the price of a cup is only a few dollars, how can it make such a big achievement?

Indeed, in addition to the flavor and environmental appeal of Starbucks to urban youth, Starbucks also has some unique tricks up its sleeve.

Cleverly designed to drive away guests

As we all know, Starbucks is interested in the literary and artistic youth group of urban white-collar workers, and this group is also a heavy consumer of coffee. But this is not the earliest positioning of Starbucks, in the late 80s of the 20th century, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz gathered a group of investors to buy Starbucks, and borrowed the words of American sociologist Ray Oldberg, proposing to position Starbucks as a "third place" - in addition to the office and home, you can also go to Starbucks to spend time. This positioning has made Starbucks warmly popular with young people and has been able to expand rapidly.

However, the question is, if a restaurant can give customers "a cup of coffee for an afternoon", then how can a café pay for rent, and how can it blossom all over the world? Therefore, the design of Starbucks, the "third place", hides a little-known little secret.

From the moment you enter the store, Starbucks has set up various links to shorten the time customers spend in the store: at the purchase stage, Starbucks coffee drinks are set up as simple as possible, making it easy for customers to make a choice; And when customers get the coffee and start tasting it slowly, unlike ordinary coffee shops that try to meet customers' "comfortable and warm" requirements, Starbucks' approach is the opposite - making customers feel uncomfortable. If the best comfort consumers want is 100 points, then actually visiting Starbucks will only make you feel about 60 points, not too comfortable, and a little relaxed. The interior of the store is mainly a casual scene with simple and crisp lines, and the seats are made of uncomfortable furniture such as wooden chairs, high stools, and wall tables, making it impossible to sit for a long time.

In addition, Starbucks' air conditioners are usually cooler than those in nearby stores, and if you think this is a perk, you are mistakenly wrong. Starbucks in the United States has even added a new takeout window for car owners, so you don't enter the store at all, and it is completely McDonald's.

Moreover, unlike ordinary cafes that provide porcelain cups, which cannot be taken away after drinking, Starbucks is packaged in paper cups whether it is ready-to-eat or take-out, and customers can take their coffee away at any time. It is precisely this kind of service positioning that at Starbucks, there are far more customers who choose to buy and leave than to enjoy in store.

So, instead of defining Starbucks as a café, it's better to say that it's a coffee convenience store.

Make money because it's free

In the age of social media, Starbucks, a traditional store, is also one of the businesses that actively embraces new media. Social media in China have WeChat and Weibo, and in the United States there are Facebook and Twitter. In the U.S., Starbucks used Twitter to launch a campaign to "give free coffee to all Americans," but it actually earned $180,000.

You can't help but ask, "How can you make money if it's free?" Let's take a look at how Starbucks' "free coffee" works: on Twitter, anyone can sign up for a free Starbucks account, log in, connect to Twitter, and then post a message on Twitter: #Tweet A Coffee @朋友的名字, which means, "Send a cup of coffee via Twitter". After receiving a Twitter reminder, the person who was @ only needs to click on the link generated by the system to automatically jump to the Starbucks official website or APP, log in to their account (if you don't have an account, you can register one for free immediately), and then you can receive a redemption code for a free cup of coffee.

So the question is, "If it's all free, where does Starbucks' $180,000 come from?" The root of this interest is closely related to the effect of market psychology: when we receive benefits from others, we will naturally have the willingness to repay them. As a result, friends who receive benefits from friends will pull their friends and even more friends to Starbucks together, and you are the only one who has vouchers, and of course others have to pay for them, which is what psychologists call the "principle of reciprocity". Starbucks cleverly capitalized on this consumer mentality and easily earned $180,000. As Howard Schultz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Starbucks, said, "When we look back at Starbucks' growth and achievements, we find that the best success is to share it with each other."