Starbucks Not Yesterday’s Brand Starbucks is More Like Tomorrow’s Brand

Unlike  Sbarro, Quiznos, Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Cosi,  Starbucks a forty three year old company continues to look more like a consumer relevant brand of tomorrow than a legacy brand of yesterday. In today’s Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food Grocerant World Starbucks fits right in.

Let me as, how old is your company?  What is your growth rate? Does your brand have consumer relevance? Here let’s take a quick look at Starbucks founded in 1971 some 43 years ago Q1 2014 numbers:

1.       Consolidated net revenues increased 12% huge base to $4.2 billion

2.       Global Same Store Sales Grew 5%, Customer Count increased 4%

3.       Americas and U.S. Same Store Sales Grew 5%, Customer Counts increased 4%

4.       Operating margins improved 260 basis points

5.       Dollars loaded on Starbucks Cards reached 1.4 billion in the latest quarter

An unnamed CEO talking to me recently on this topic said yes but that’s Starbucks.  He was 100% correct not his company!  Why, is it Ok for Starbucks to continually out preform and his company not?  Simple Leadership! Vision and a proven formula of success steps:  Build, Measure, Learn, Repeat.  Simply put Starbucks learns from miss-steps and moves on. 

When after 20+ years of not offering food they began selling food.  They got it wrong.  It was not working up to the standards that they required or customer’s expectation’s so they discontinued it and began anew. Today it works well within the Starbucks store and outside the store digitally.

Yes, this little Seattle coffee shop that opened up in 1971 today not only will sell more than $16 Billion in products this year. Sales and customer relevance come from trial and innovation. Starbucks digital innovation will contribute billions of those sales. They will come from a branded Starbucks App for the iPhone. Starbucks reports that they have more than:

1.       11% of transactions a week now happening with a mobile device in our stores

2.       Nearly 10 million customers currently using our mobile app

3.       Now Digital Tipping Customers can show their appreciation to store partners by tipping through the Starbucks App for iPhone. Customers are given the option to provide a tip in the following denominations: 50 cents, $1, and $2.

4.       Shake to Pay To simplify mobile payments, customers can now bring the barcode of their Starbucks Card front and center at any time, simply by shaking their mobile device.

Is your company waiting for the economy to turn around?  Are you blaming a bifurcated marketplace as your reason to wait?  Does your company traditionally not lead but follow?    Successful brands understand that consumer is dynamic not static and they are as well.

www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche since 1991