Essay On Starbucks

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...

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... 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?