Starbucks Case Study

 
Starbucks is a US-based multinational company, which acts as a premier marketer,
roaster, and retailer of specialty coffee across different parts of the world. The company has
29,000 stores across different countries (Starbucks Corporation, 2019). It specializes in selling
handcrafted and roasted high-quality premium coffee, tea, several food items, among many other
beverages. Based on its recent financial statements, Starbucks had revenue of $26.5 billion in the
2019 fiscal year, which was a 7% increase from 2018 (Starbucks Corporation, 2019). An
increase was also noted on the operating income since, in 2019, the operating income was $4.1
billion, while in 2018, the operating income was $3.9 billion (Starbucks Corporation, 2019).
These financial insights on the firm simply show that Starbucks is on the right business track,
and the results also show the streamlining business efforts to focus on accelerating growth in the
business. As such, this paper will focus on Starbucks' business strategy, how the firm has
incorporated technology as well as the upcoming strategies that Starbucks can integrate into the
business.
Starbucks Business Strategy
The business strategy of Starbucks is based on four main pillars, which include selling
coffee of the highest quality, focusing on international expansion with the focus on emerging
economies, offering a third-place experience, and integrating the use of technology on its
business processes (Dudovskiy, 2017). More into detail, Starbucks stores are well-positioned as a
third-place where people can relax and spend time with friends away from work or home. More
so, most of the Starbucks stores within the US and other parts of the world have free internet to
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enhance the experience of the customers. These stores are also designed in a way that makes
customers stay longer, return for another visit, and order for more products. Therefore, all
Starbucks stores focus on boosting the experience of its customers.
Starbucks faces competition from the likes of Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's (Hawley,
2019). At the same time, the firm has experienced phenomenal growth and success based on its
sales and expansion over the years. This success has mainly been attributed to the firm's business
strategy of product differentiation (Hawley, 2019). Ideally, the coffee giant focuses on the quality
of its products such that customers enjoy high-quality coffee at premium prices. Besides, the firm
offers excellent customer services, which offers Starbucks a competitive advantage. Therefore,
Starbucks brands itself as the most exquisite coffee company