Starbucks Law Of Demand Analysis

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Starbucks Corporation was formed in 1971 and is the largest coffee company in the world. Currently, Starbucks has 20,891 stores in 62 different countries. Initially, Starbucks only sold roasted whole bean coffee, however after opening new stores and experimenting with espresso and high end coffee drinks they rapidly continued adding to their menu. At this time, Starbucks menu includes coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, tea, pastries, sandwiches, etc. Starbucks expanded quickly from around 1995 to 2005, “…Starbucks added stores in the United States at an annual rate of 27%” (Jannarone, J., 2010). Unfortunately, Starbucks took a hit during the economic crisis of 2008 and they had no other option, but to take the necessary steps to move forward during the market failure. So, how was the law of supply and demand affected during this initial rapid growth, then during the weakening of sales in the economic crisis, and now during their re-growth? The law of demand states that if all factors remain equal, the higher priced goods will be in less demand. When consumers buy a higher priced good, they will usually purchase a smaller quantity, because as the price goes up then the opportunity cost of buying the good will also increase. The law of demand is a downward facing slope; therefore there is a negative relationship between the price and the quantity demanded. The law of supply will display the amount that will be sold at a certain price and opposite of the law of demand, the law of supply is upward sloping (Samuelson & Marks, 2011). To be able to answer the above questions their needs to be a review of the corporation.
“Starbucks purchases and roasts high-quality whole bean coffees and sells them along with fresh, rich-brewed, Italian style...

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...th the economic crisis, Starbucks did see a left shift in their demand curve and right shift in their supply curve leaving them excess supply. Yet, they were able to cut costs and still target their loyal consumers, so they could shift their demand curve right and continue to be a strong force in their oligopolistic market. Since, a shift in the supply curve happens when a quantity demanded or supplied changes then that means every time the demand curve shifted left for Starbucks then the supply curve shifted right. During the economic crisis Starbucks had excess supply this caused the product to be less attractive and consumers were purchasing less, because the price was high. After Starbucks took the necessary steps to become as efficient as possible in their market, they were able to continue growing and offer a larger variety of goods to their loyal consumers.

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