The secret of Starbucks invincible! Create a personalized and intimate service with data

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Starbucks (Starbucks) not only sells coffee, but more like a technology company: from 2009 layout action payment, let customers get used to using App consumption, using years of accumulated user data to create personalized services to capture the hearts of customers, but also become a secret weapon that retail will not be eliminated by e-commerce.

Selling coffee is a small business for some people, but for Starbucks, selling coffee is similar to running a technology company. It also has to "stay in the tide of the market and cannot be eliminated by the trend." Kevin Johnson, the current chief executive of Starbucks, once said so.

Strictly speaking, Starbucks is on a par with technology companies.

"Alexa, order me a cup of Starbucks coffee. "arousing Amazon's voice assistant Alexa to order coffee is the embodiment of the Seattle coffee company's new technology. At the counter, take out the phone's Starbucks App and ask the store to scan its own Barcode bar code to complete the checkout. This is a mobile payment tool launched earlier than Apple Pay. In addition, Starbucks also accepts pre-order pick-up service, through the mobile phone App order, after the payment will receive the coffee completed at the scheduled time, to help busy people avoid the queue.

According to Starbucks' quarterly results released in July, total revenue was $5.66 billion, of which 30 per cent of US stores' transaction volume came from action payments, while booking and pick-up services (Mobile Order & Pay), launched in some countries, accounted for 9 per cent of total transaction volume.

According to the latest earnings data, 30 per cent of Starbucks's transaction volume comes from mobile payments, and its digital consumer experience is highly adopted by consumers. Starbucks

A day at Starbucks starts with the member collection point rewards paid by the action.

Nowadays, it has become a common sight for Starbucks in the United States to order coffee and use mobile phones to check out. If the rise of Apple Pay depends on Apple's brand influence, how did Starbucks make customers willing to try mobile payment in the first place?

The membership reward program promoted by Starbucks in the United States is similar to the supermarket spot card theory, in which members accumulate two stars for every dollar they spend, and a full 125 stars can be exchanged for a drink. In addition, members will receive a free drink coupon on their birthday, and occasionally Starbucks will offer exclusive discounts for members to give them more "classy" treatment than ordinary consumers.

Starbucks also cooperates with Spotify, the New York Times, Lyft and other cross-industry partners, combined with customer discounts on both sides, Starbucks members use these services and can collect more member stars at the same time.

Membership spots are not uncommon, but in 2009, Starbucks' approach to mobile payments promoted by Mobile App was worth mentioning.

Starbucks first launched the App interface of mobile payment on BlackBerry mobile phone, which uses Barcode scanning to complete payment. Starbucks

IPhone pay App, which was launched by Starbucks in the early days, can complete the payment by scanning the customer's own QR code through POS. Starbucks

In the absence of NFC sensor payments and virtual wallets, the mobile payment tools used by Starbucks are quite special. They create a dedicated Barcode barcode for each consumer, instead of letting the user's mobile phone scan the barcode, but with the store's POS machine, as long as the user shows the exclusive barcode, the specially designed POS machine can scan, identify the user's membership and the corresponding payment method, and complete the payment.

Starbucks currently has 133 million active reward members, and at least 75 million non-repetitive members visit Starbucks every month. However, in addition to the reward system, Starbucks has another way to please its members: a personalized experience.

Master "user data" and create differentiated services for consumers

Ordering coffee is actually a great knowledge. how strong the coffee is, which kind of milk is added (low-fat, whole-fat, zero-fat or soy milk), which kind of seasoning syrup and how much it should be used, everyone's Starbucks order will vary according to their preferences. Through members' spending records, Starbucks App will remember a user's order record. if it is a complex order, you can save a long list of personal coffee preferences by pressing repeat order in App.

In addition, when the member comes to the counter to check out, the shop assistant will also see his spending preferences and provide more intimate and personalized services. For example, seeing a member's birthday today, the shop assistant can wish a happy birthday, through a simple warm greeting, can increase the customer's good impression of the brand.

From a business perspective, this online membership incentive program brings the greatest value to Starbucks, which is actually user behavior data.

Through the mobile App in the hands of each Starbucks member, the coffee company can grasp the consumption preferences, frequency, location and other data of specific users, and can further provide personalized arrival services and discounts. Even if not all Starbucks customers are members, by joining members, Starbucks will be able to deepen its relationship with these customers, making them not just passers-by, but friends who visit again and again.

The behavior data accumulated by members has become a secret weapon for Starbucks to provide personalized services. Starbucks

Actively recruit talents with IT background to ensure the driving force of scientific and technological innovation

Starbucks' attitude towards technology can be seen from the management. Starbucks founder Howard Schultz (Howard Schultz) announced his resignation in April and was replaced by Kevin Kevin Johnson, the former chief operating officer of Starbucks. Kevin Johnson recently told foreign media Bloomberg that he is an operator who uses data to help make decisions.

Kevin Johnson, who joined Starbucks in 2009, does not come from a food background. He has 16 years of experience at Microsoft and five years as executive of Juniper Networkds, a technology company. His taking over as CEO is tantamount to ensuring that Starbucks' technological momentum continues to operate.

Kevin Johnson, the former chief operating officer of Starbucks, took over as CEO in 2017 and will use his technological background to lead the growth of Starbucks' digital strategy. Starbucks

In 2015, Starbucks created a new post of Chief Technology Officer (Chief Technology Officer), bringing in Gerri Martin-Flickinger, the former chief information officer of Adobe, who is not only in charge of the IT position within Starbucks, but also helps shape Starbucks' global technology strategy. In addition, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also has a seat on Starbucks' board of directors, overseeing technology and management matters in board decisions.

Focus on the "consumer experience" of physical stores and create must-visit scenic spots

In the future, Starbucks will not only continue to promote membership programs to build a personalized experience, but also intend to focus on the "new retail experience." In early October, Starbucks announced the closure of its online store. If consumers want to buy Starbucks-related products (such as coffee cups, brewing appliances, etc.), they must visit the store.

Starbucks, which shuts down its online shopping platform, plans to move all its consumer experiences to brick-and-mortar stores and create a retail advantage through personalized and intimate services. Starbucks

Becoming the "destination" of every consumer will be our goal. "said Kevin Johnson. The American retail industry is being subverted by Amazon-led e-commerce. Modern people have become accustomed to shopping on the online platform. In the face of industrial changes, physical stores have to provide a unique and strong consumer experience in order to survive. Starbucks' personalized service through its membership program is the starting point for creating a consumer experience.

Starbucks does not plan to sell its own products through Amazon, but insists that customers must step into the coffee shop if they want to buy. This is also the time for Starbucks to show good customer service.

It is not so much a coffee shop as Starbucks is an innovative company that provides a good store atmosphere and considerate and personalized customer service, and technology is their secret weapon to drive performance growth in the background.