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Starbucks competitive strategies to counter the forces
Starbucks competitive strategies to counter the forces
Starbucks strategic position
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INTRODUCTION Starbucks is the leading roaster, retailer and marketer of specialty coffees in the world. Starbucks purchases the best quality coffee beans from various places, roasts them and sells in a variety of forms. The company’s retail sales mix mostly includes a variety of whole coffee beans, gourmet food items, coffee drinking accessories like coffee mugs, coffee grinders, coffee making equipment, coffee filters and other accessories of coffee. However the product mix varies with each store. To serve the world with the best quality coffee, Starbucks have pursued mission to inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time. The guiding principles pertaining to 6 things which have become a part of the company- coffee, customers, partners, stores, neighbourhood and shareholders. Starbucks primary goal was and still is to become the leading retailer of specialty coffee. In order to attain their goal, CEO Shultz created the concept of “Starbucks experience”. The vision behind Starbucks experience was to create a place more than just a specialty coffee store to a third place for the customers where they could relax away from home and office works and tensions. Hence they focused on a retail based store centred on place and a pleasant experience. Starbucks’ generic competitive strategy is differentiation strategy. Starbucks differentiate themselves from competitors and other players in a strong way along the several dimensions like high quality coffee, innovation and their unique experience and large number of locations. For instance, their instant coffee line VIA was a part of their differentiation and low cost leadership strategy. VIA is a low cost alternative to regular coffee and a... ... middle of paper ... ... market in US also can be a problem for the stores based in US. However this can be counterbalanced by adopting a diversification strategy and innovative product offerings to retain their customers in the US market. Opening stores in growing markets can give a big boost to Starbucks to regain its market leadership position. In spite of these challenges Starbucks still maintains a strong financial status which indicates that company still has many prospects for future growth especially with unexplored coffee markets in certain countries. The financial status of the company also indicates a good overall position. The report will try to answer the question as to whether Starbucks is in a position to handle their challenges with their grand strategies or forming new ones to adapt to changing business environment, even though they are still the number one in industry?
The mission of Starbucks can be divided into 6 branches; the mission for its coffee; the mission for its partners; the mission f...
The key to its success lies not only in the quality of its products but also the ability to differentiate itself from the competition. With Starbucks, it has always been about quality. The company manages stringent quality control measures for sourcing the finest coffee beans, roasting processes as well as customer service and ancillary products. Furthermore, differentiation is key to market control and Starbucks is unquestioningly the most differentiated specialized coffee brands in the world. From the design of its coffee shops to the music played to the types of products offered, everything has a touch of uniqueness.
...ore. The weakness for Starbucks is only Colombian coffee will distort the brand name. The opportunities are that Colombia has a growing middle class. The threats are being an American company the store can be targeted for terrorism, or Colombians will prefer a Colombian company to an American one. The weakness and threats outweigh the strengths and opportunities.
Shah, A. J., Hawk, T. F., & A, T. A. (2011). Starbucks' Global Quest in 2006: Is the Best Yet to Come. In A. A. Marcus, Management Strategy: Achieving Sustained Competitive Advantage (pp. c468-c495). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Starbucks core competencies can be defined as high quality coffee and products at accessible locations and affordable prices, providing a community to share in the coffee drinking experience, and variety of choices. They also value ethics and good business practices and is a consistent leader, being voted number one of 2012’s most ethical businesses by Ethisphere magazine for the 4th year running (“Starbucks”). The business strategy of Starbucks' is a single business company, focusing on only coffee-related products and retail store...
I chose to place focus on Starbucks because I personally don 't like this particular coffee shop and I think it 's overpriced. but I was also fascinated by their marketing strategies which is one of Starbuck’s strengths. The marketing strategies Starbucks uses is their monopolistic advantage among its competitors, because of its popularity has kept its monopoly, and also because of it the company has found its way into
Starbucks has grown so fast in 40 years it is easy to see the things that they are doing right. One of the strengths that Starbucks has is they have built strong customer connections through value-added services. Looking deeper into this, starbucks prides themselves on retaining their current customers and how they are able to attract new ones. They sell world-renowned coffee in so many flavors that meet many peoples demands. They have been a company that has focused on meeting their customers demands while offering other services other than coffee. (Marketline, 2016).
Starbucks is a worldwide company, known for is delicious brews of coffee and seasonal varieties of tasty drinks for any occasion. Starbucks opened with two main goals, sharing great coffee with friends and to help make the world a little better. It originated in the historic Pike Place Market of Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker. The creation of Starbucks’ name came from the seafaring tradition of early coffee traders and the romance evoked from Moby Dick. At the time, this individual shop specialized in the towering quality of coffee over competitors and other brewing services enabling its growth to becoming the largest coffee chain in Washington with numerous locations. In the early 1980s, the current CEO Schultz saw an opportunity for growth in the niche market. After a trip to Italy he brought back the idea of a café style environment of leisure and social meetings to the United States we now see in Starbucks locations today. Schultz ultimately left Starbucks to open his own coffee shop, Il Giornale which turned out to be a tremendous success. Fast forward a year later, Schultz got wind that Starbucks was going to sell all their components of Starbucks including their stores and factories, he immediately acquired the funds to buy Starbucks and linked both operations. Within five years he was able to open more than 125 stores starting in New England, Boston, Chicago, and gradually entered California. He wanted Starbucks to be a franchise system based on the mission of telling the truth and emphasize the quality,
Nithin Geereddy. 2013. Strategic Analysis of Starbucks Corporation. [ONLINE] Available at:http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/nithingeereddy/files/starbucks_case_analysis.pdf. [Accessed 18 April 14]
Starbucks is known for the extraordinary coffee that they have provided over decades. Although the coffee is great and the business is successful, other aspects can put a treat on the company just as any other business. When it comes to the downfalls “higher commodity cost, intense competition, and legal proceedings can have an adverse impact over the business” (Lemus, E.). Per Lemus in the article “Starbucks Corporation: Leading Innovation in the 21st Century” Starbucks current SWOT analysis is as follows:
"Rewarding everyday moments". The Starbucks Mantra clearly implies that they are not selling just coffee. They claim to be selling the coffee experience. Their coffee bars that sell specialty coffee also gives customers an ambience where they can be themselves. Starbucks advertises themselves as the third place between home and office, where you can escape, reflect, read, chat or listen. They have become the largest player in the coffee industry and is still looking for avenues to expand themselves.
In addition to being best-known supplier of the finest coffee and promising only the highest quality products, Starbucks emphasizes firm values, provides guidelines to enhance employee self-esteem. This is to ensure continued customer satisfaction. Moreover, diversity has become a priority to providing an inviting environment to all consumers. Starbucks continues to abide by a strict, slow growth policy in which they set out to dominate a market before moving on to expand, thus history has shown this strategy to be successful for Starbucks, making them one the fastest growing companies nationwide.
With clear core values towards providing quality coffee, the best service, and atmosphere, Starbucks has enjoyed great success since it was founded 30 years ago. The company has being doing very well for last 11 years with 5% or more store sales increase, even with the rest economy still reeling from the post-9/11 recession. However recent research, conducted to Starbucks, have showed some concerns regarding company’s problem meeting customers’ expectations.
According to the Seattle Business Wire (as sited in Starbucks Coffee Company, 2015), the president and CEO of Starbucks, revealed to shareholders a vision for transforming the operation of his company in 2008 which involve the customer experience and reaffirm the company’s growth potential. He revealed that a five initiative strategy that he is directing the company towards will bring the company to a new level of quality (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2015).
When I saw this discussion, I couldn’t help but think of Starbucks and the impact they’ve made throughout their 45 years of establishment. I worked with them for about 7 years and saw how unique they were from your everyday coffee and latte spots. A retail company with thousands of coffee shops in the US as well as in other countries, this particular retailer has been able to catch the eyes of all ages as well as locations throughout the world. For example, today college students utilize Starbucks locations to study rather than go to a nearby library. Starbucks is also known for its best coffee and espresso drinks (Latte or Frappuccino) and with one of its delicious espresso 's any student or just a person stopping in to enjoy its lounge area where there is free Wi-Fi is awesome! Starbucks lifecycle has made a 360 turn around and been revamped twice to accommodated the growing market. Customizing their brand to fit more in with everything and not just one thing. By doing this they’ve created multiple product lifecycles within their own lifecycle as a corporate company.