Introduction
Starbucks is a US company offering coffee, as well as a coffeehouse chain carrying the same name. Starbucks is the largest coffee producer in the world, with a network of stores more than 23 thousand in 2015. Starbucks sells espresso and other hot and cold drinks, coffee, hot and cold sandwiches, pastries, snacks, and such items as mugs and glasses. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, US.
The company was founded relatively recently, in 1971, and started as a chain of stores selling coffee. The first store was opened on March 30, 1971. The company’s founders are Jerry Baldwin, an English teacher, Zev Siegl, a history teacher, and Gordon Bowker, a writer. They decided to start selling coffee beans and opened its first store in Pike Place Market, Seattle, US. The shop had been not only the first but remained the one for a very long time. However, there were five Starbucks stores ten years later. Additionally, the company had also acquired its own factory by that time. The enterprise was also a supplier of coffee beans to many cafes, bars and restaurants besides that. A turning point in the history of Starbucks came in 1987 as Howard Shultz became a sole owner of the company, who has made Starbucks the entity we are familiar with these days.
One of the main Howard’s achievements contributing to the success of Starbucks is that he has brought standardization to the company. The same range of basic goods is presented at every coffeehouse. A person can drink his favorite coffee everywhere, no matter what country he is in. Moreover, Starbucks offers also some special products, designed for each nationality.
Starbucks opening hours are mostly 5 am to 10 pm or 10:30 pm. At the same time, a visit time may be different depending on the store location and a day. For example, Starbucks is open till 10:30 pm or 11:30 pm at weekends. The visit time in small cities is up to 6 pm, while hours of operation in malls depend on the closing time of the malls themselves. To say more, Starbucks has different working hours at holidays and Christmas as well.
Currently, Starbucks is going through a period of extremely high growth rates as a small Starbucks café opens somewhere in the world almost every day. The success of the company is so phenomenal that makes it wonder about the reasons people are sitting there for a whole day, as well as people prefer doing their work long in Starbucks rather doing it at home. In terms of the company’s international strategy, Starbucks drinks and atmosphere in China differ from those offered in the United States, which is also an interesting fact to discover.
The Analysis of Starbuck’s Approach
There are several ways to explain the phenomenal growth and success of Starbucks. However, one of the most important components of its success is a correctly conceived and executed strategy. Starbucks Coffee Company has grown from a small regional business to undisputed world leader in the coffee industry in less than thirty years. The success of the company lies in an extremely successful business model, which accurately takes into account the psychology of a modern individual. Starbucks has aspired to be more than just a coffee shop, offering the customer a lifestyle from the very beginning.
There is a chance Starbucks marketing and financial purposes have contributed to its success and recognition. These are the following. First is the aim to create an atmosphere and environment in coffee houses, which would lead to people’s return to get more coffee. Second is to create an image that would stand out against the background of the smaller coffee chains. Third is to clearly convey the company’s value and commitment of Starbucks business to customers, but not just to achieve the planned growth. Finally is to open new stores at lower costs.
As for the standardization, adopted by Shultz, it stands out one more moment, which is the atmosphere in the coffee shops. One the one hand, the basic elements are similar in all Starbucks coffee houses, but each coffee shop has its own characteristics, a unique atmosphere, on the other hand. This is largely the merit of Howard Shultz and the team of designers.
Absolutely different people drink coffee at Starbucks, from businessmen drinking espresso on the go to young couples, spending enjoyable time at the table. Freelancers tend to work actively at Starbucks, as well as bloggers writing their new posts, while podcasters edit sound files there. The atmosphere of the coffee shop attracts people with laptops, especially with free Wi-Fi offered to customers.
There is also a constantly playing music in each coffee house. It is interesting that there is a central server which is engaged in playing the same music across the Starbucks network. It means that the track played in New York can be heard in Seattle the same very moment for example. Such a feature has led Shultz to an agreement with the other icon of the American business – Apple. Any user who has iPhone or iPod Touch can come to Starbucks to buy instantly through iTunes Store the composition that is being played at the moment in the coffee house...
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