Data chart: A Starbucks store in Guangzhou. Photo by Cheng Jingwei
Zhongxin Finance, February 17 (Zuo Yuqing) Hot search continues! Starbucks has been a bit more recently.
"A Starbucks store in Chongqing drove the police to eat a box lunch at the door and maliciously complained" The storm has not subsided, on the 16th, many consumers found that Starbucks prices have increased, and quickly became the first topic of Weibo hot search.
The price increase may not be more than once, but several times
"The price increase just notified today is only for some drinks and food." A Starbucks clerk at a store in Beijing told China News Finance that the price increase was due to a comprehensive consideration of factors such as market costs.
Zhongxin Finance noted that the price increase on starbucks on the "cusp of the storm" is generally 1-2 yuan. For example, the ice American style of the big cup has risen from the former 28 yuan / cup to 30 yuan / cup, an increase of 2 yuan.
On February 16, some of Starbucks's drinks and foods rose slightly.
"Although the increase is not large, but the heart is extremely resistant." Many netizens said so. Some netizens also said that the increase is still within an acceptable range.
However, unlike the "quiet" price increases that consumers complained about, as early as February 1, Starbucks released a price increase signal.
According to foreign media reports, under the influence of the new crown epidemic and inflationary pressures, Starbucks in the United States has ushered in two waves of price increases in October last year and January this year to cope with the squeeze of costs on net profits.
"Starbucks price increases in 2022 may be more than once, but several times." Following the release of the first quarter of 2022 earnings, Starbucks President and CEO Kevin Johnson said Starbucks had "additional pricing action" plans throughout the year.
Starbucks' performance report for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 shows that Starbucks currently has a total of 5557 stores in China. But as the average unit price fell by 9% and the transaction volume fell by 6%, Starbucks' same-store sales in the Chinese market fell by 14% during the quarter.
Food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng believes that Starbucks price increases with a certain degree of rigid demand, but at the same time its overall gross profit margin has been relatively high, "the company itself can actually digest the cost pressure, but as a company with many stores, it also wants to use its own brand effect, scale effect to further enhance profit margins, so as to support the stock price." ”
Image crisis under the "high-end" positioning
The price of Starbucks has risen, but the corporate image has fallen again and again.
In December 2021, two Starbucks stores in Wuxi were exposed for privately changing ingredient labels and using expired ingredients. Although Starbucks closed the two stores involved, the regulatory authorities found that among the other 82 Starbucks stores in Wuxi, there were 15 problems such as employees not wearing work hats, messy placement of items in the processing area, and incomplete disinfection records.
Only two months after the "gold standard" was "punched in the face", Starbucks overturned again and ushered in a more serious image crisis.
On February 13, some netizens broke the news that Starbucks employees in Chongqing Ciqikou Backstreet drove away and complained about the police on duty because they ate at the door and "affected the brand image". The incident immediately caused an uproar on the Internet.
Although Starbucks China publicly apologized through its official Weibo on the evening of the 14th, saying that it was "inappropriate words that caused communication misunderstandings." But many netizens still have reservations about this: "Your apology tone is too arrogant!" ”
Starbucks responded to the "eviction of the police" incident.
Since entering the Chinese market in 1999, China has become Starbucks' fastest growing and largest overseas market.
However, compared with the decline of Starbucks in the Chinese market, the number of stores reported by Chinese local coffee brand Luckin Coffee in the third quarter of 2021 was 5671, which has exceeded the number of stores newly disclosed by Starbucks. On February 15, Luckin Coffee CEO Guo Jinyi said in an internal letter that the total number of new stores opened by Luckin Coffee in January was about 360, setting a new record for the total number of stores opened in a single month.
In addition, many coffee brands such as Mai Coffee, M Stand, Manner, Tims Coffee and so on are also constantly encroaching on Starbucks' market share.
Do you drink coffee now and drink Starbucks? (End)