Starbucks shares in technology companies, actively transforming "one-stop service"

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SBUX-US (Starbucks) said on Monday (22) that it would acquire a stake in a digital technology company to upgrade Starbucks' digital transformation model by providing online ordering services and increasing payment methods around the world.

The technology company in which Starbucks will take a stake is called Brightloom, which was founded in 2015 and was formerly known as Eatsa, which made a splash with an unmanned restaurant. Good at catering science and technology.

Kevin Johnson, chief executive of Starbucks, said the partnership will promote a wider range of innovative opportunities to extend and link customer brick-and-mortar experience to digital consumption models.

Kevin Johnson also stressed that customer loyalty and consumption frequency to Starbucks have increased significantly after the promotion of digital consumption. Therefore, Starbucks is very pleased with this cooperation and believes that more innovative application of technology will enhance the overall consumer experience of customers.

Adam Brotman, chief executive of Brightloom, believes that the cooperation will combine Brightloom's catering technology with Starbucks' digital flywheel technology to provide Starbucks with "one-stop service": including mobile phone ordering, payment, order management, personalized services, etc., while simplifying the overall ordering process.

Starbucks has the "digital flywheel technology" (Digital Flywheel technology) through artificial intelligence technology, accurate collection and analysis of each member's consumption habits and hobbies, at the same time, the use of historical data integration, combined with the weather of the day, to recommend suitable drinks to members.

The latest deal shows that the trend of large restaurant chains seeking to invest in technology companies is becoming increasingly important in motivating competition in the catering industry because of digital ordering and payment. This year, McDonald's also announced the acquisition of a Dynamic Yield technology company, and last year, Pizza Hut also acquired QuikOrder, a takeout platform.

Starbucks is expected to report results on July 25, and analysts expect revenue and earnings per share to rise, focusing on the company's aggressive expansion of digital consumption and delivery services, which will spur same-store sales growth.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), global coffee giant Starbucks is facing fierce competition from Luckin Coffee, whose strengths are mobile phone ordering, payment and delivery services. The listed company is expected to launch coffee shops in the Middle East and India.

In contrast, Starbucks, although the company used to be quite concerned about the digitization of the consumer experience, in less than half of the more than 80 countries in which Starbucks operates, consumers in less than half of the countries can use the company's app, and only consumers in eight countries can order meals and pay through App.

In 2018, when emerging online coffee brands such as Luckin Coffee and Lian Coffee began to make efforts, these "new retail" models of online ordering, offline distribution and subsidy wars shook Starbucks' position in the Chinese market. Starbucks, which had not expanded its delivery service in the past, finally succumbed to this.

Consumption habits are facing digital changes, and China can be seen as a microcosm of a global market. Starbucks' retail dilemma can only be broken by digital transformation. The coffee brand, which was founded in 1971 and has been around for nearly 50 years, obviously cannot be slowed down by a minute of technology.

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