Starbucks CEO said the salary increase is an "important investment" and will step up efforts to expand car restaurants in the future.

Starbucks CEO said the pay rise was an "important investment".

Earlier, in the midst of a sudden epidemic, Starbucks unusually offered to raise wages for American employees by at least 10%. From December 14 last year, the company's baristas, shift supervisors and cafe waiters will receive at least 10% pay rise, but only if they are employed before September 24, and employees who have worked at Starbucks for three years or more will get at least 11% pay rise. The starting salary for new employees has also been increased by 5% to attract and retain employees, and Starbucks has promised that the minimum hourly wage for all American employees will be no less than $15 over the next two to three years after a 10% increase.

In response, according to foreign media reports, Kevin Johnson, CEO of Starbucks CEO, recently described the salary increase as an "important investment" and said that because employees are people who establish contact with customers, if they have a deeper connection with customers, they will patronize Starbucks more frequently. To offset rising labor costs, Starbucks is looking to improve efficiency, including the use of technology to automate management tasks, he said.

The importance of a pay rise was recognized and made by Howard Schultz, the executive director of Starbucks, when he was in office in 2016.

Schultz mentioned in a letter to employees in October 2016 that he would raise salaries by 5 per cent and 15 per cent for all Starbucks US employees (more than 150000). The pay rise is unprecedented in the service industry and renews Schultz's long-standing commitment to helping employees succeed. "I believe that as a manager and leader, the only way to build a successful great company is to meet the expectations of your employee partners," Schultz said. "

In addition, due to the epidemic, Starbucks changed its previous operation model. During the epidemic, Starbucks took the lead in adopting a series of "buy and go" (on-the-go experiences) strategies, including roadside food picking up, car restaurants, mobile phone ordering and so on. For example, Starbucks plans to open more "mini stores" in the city center, that is, the buy-and-go (on-the-go experiences) model without setting seats. Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Pat Grismer has said that Starbucks plans to increase the number of global stores to 55000 by fiscal year 2030, of which more than half of the new stores will be coffee shops and 40% will be drive-thru restaurants. 5 per cent of the stores will focus on take-out service (pickup formats). In addition, Starbucks also said that if entrants do not want to wear masks during the outbreak, they can also buy through the car purchase channel, takeout and take-out channels.

For this news, recently, foreign media also reported that Starbucks is increasing investment in this store type due to the accelerated growth of car restaurants under the epidemic.

According to statistics, sales of Starbucks car restaurants increased by more than 10% during the outbreak.

Kevin Johnson, chief executive of Starbucks, seems to have taken a fancy to the opportunity. Kevin Johnson said Starbucks'US drive-in restaurants have seen a "slight" increase in service hours in the past few months. and expressed confidence in improving the customer experience of car restaurants, driving business recovery, while strengthening the foundation for future growth.

COVID-19 's pandemic has affected the pace of Starbucks expansion in the United States, traditional cafes have been hit hard, and Starbucks is looking for another way to grow. in addition to Starbucks's announcement that it plans to strategically optimize the number of stores in the United States by closing some stores, Starbucks also said the number of new stores would be halved to about 300. While the newly opened stores will adopt innovative experience models, including Starbucks pick-up points and car shuttle restaurants, Starbucks will speed up the launch of self-service concept stores, which have no internal seats and will all be converted to take-out stores. Users will soon be able to pick up goods by the side of the road on car orders.

Starbucks plans to invest more in car restaurants. At present, Starbucks will promote car restaurants in three ways, including optimizing existing stores and operations to speed up service, allowing employees to place orders for customers along the aisle with handheld devices, and renovating 150 stores to be compatible with the upgraded mode of operation. Starbucks adopts extra-size takeout options. While changing traditional coffee shops to provide users with more convenient services, it may also bring new breakthroughs to the overall business situation. Starbucks will focus more on online order services to help consumers provide safe distances.

* Image source: Internet