Starbucks goal: to "drive away" customers to become a coffee convenience store

In the positioning of Starbucks in China, white-collar workers are a state, not an identity. A considerable number of urban white-collar workers are literary youth and heavy consumers of coffee shops, but Starbucks will never place its position on the status of "literary youth", even though they have a good chance of being the same person.

Such an exquisite positioning has exposed the nature of Starbucks'"split personality". Starbucks is more of a coffee convenience store than a coffee shop, with far more customers choosing to buy and leave than those who enjoy it in the store.

How does Starbucks "drive away" customers and improve the turnaround rate? A cafe is not a fast food restaurant. Is it really good to do this?

Starbucks does not drive people to turn over the stage, and the rate is very high.

On October 9, diners visited Starbucks North City Tianjie Store, Huanghua Restaurant and Times Tianjie Store. During the three hours of observation at Starbucks Huanghua Store, only four customers stayed for more than 2 hours. At the peak of the noon period, 30 seats were filled, and 2/3 stayed for only about 10 minutes.

Did Starbucks drive away guests on purpose? No. Why did the guests leave? A student in the third year of Nankai Middle School said he would never ask for a cup of coffee to sit all afternoon. "the stool (high wooden stool) has been uncomfortable for a long time."

Even so, it does not affect regulars' following of Starbucks. Among the 10 customers questioned at random, Starbucks was chosen for convenience and brand recognition. A barista at Starbucks Huanghua said that according to his observation, customers usually stay in the store for no more than an hour. However, he believes that it is not the store that is urging customers to leave. "most of them are office workers and students. They are relatively busy and will not stay long." However, he also said, "if a customer is sedentary, we will take the initiative to ask the customer,'do you need any other products or services' according to a period of time?"

According to an industry source who does business with Starbucks, Starbucks North City Tianjie Store may be the best coffee retail store in Chongqing at present. "Coffee and beverages alone should sell more than a thousand cups a day." The turnaround rate is self-evident.

Be an operator rather than an artist

Unlike Starbucks "say one thing and do another", many local coffee shopkeepers with literary dreams have been brought to the ditch by the leisure concept shaped by Starbucks. An industry source said that from the current market situation, three to five of the 10 coffee shops in the Chongqing market are losing money, only two are making a profit, and the rest can basically make ends meet.

"it is true that this situation exists. Many people pursue the tone of literature and art and forget that they are opening a shop." Wu Jing, who has been in the coffee industry for many years, said that there are many people in the industry who devote their feelings regardless of cost to create leisure time. The result is, "how do you pay rent for a shop that allows customers to spend the afternoon with a cup of coffee?"

"the turnaround rate is very important to the profitability of coffee shops." Wu Jing analysis, for a coffee shop, rent and labor costs are rigid, the cost of a single cup of coffee is certain, sales determine the profit margin.

In fact, Starbucks'"bad tricks" have long been an open secret of the retail industry. "Starbucks is just doing what an operator should do." Hu Yu, founder of the bean sprout coffee chain, said Starbucks' practices are common in the retail industry. In the supermarket, soothing music is usually played when there are few customers, while when customers are concentrated, fast-paced music is played so that people can't help but speed up the progress.

Starbucks is not as good as thinking of other tricks.

So does it mean that local cafes in Chongqing want to learn from Starbucks if they want to make money?

"the trick of 'driving away' customers is a bit one-sided, and it can only be used when the passengers are full and the flow of people is very large." Hu Yu said that Chongqing's coffee market is still in the training stage, even Starbucks, not all stores are full, for most local coffee shops, driving away customers is not objective. Wu Jing, sales director of Chongqing Xinjinlan Hotel supplies (Coffee) Co., Ltd., also believes: "for most coffee shops whose positioning is different from Starbucks, the strategy of driving customers away is not applicable."

However, the turnaround rate is not all about running a good coffee shop. "it has something to do with the positioning of a coffee shop." Hu Yu said that the turnaround rate is not needed all the time, and when there are not many guests, popularity is the most important.

Wu Jing has been engaged in coffee raw materials and equipment supply in the Chongqing market for many years and has partnered with thousands of companies and stores. according to his observation, the rent and labor costs of many stores constitute the greatest pressure on coffee shops. Therefore, marketing strategy is very important. At present, there are some successful cases in Chongqing market, such as Beast Garden.

The Beast Garden is located on Nine Street, and the location determines its flow of people. The decoration uses floor-to-ceiling windows, garden wind, and various wild animal models to give people the attraction of the urban jungle. The display of ordinary wooden tables and chairs can kill Wenqing in seconds, but it is actually far less comfortable than the sofa. When the flow of people is small, the floor-to-ceiling window naturally attracts people to sit in front of the window and become a living signboard, not playing music, in a daze. When the flow of people is full, turn on the music volume and increase the air conditioner, and the customers will leave if they are uncomfortable. In addition, they place orders and settle accounts through the network platform, first lead customers to the store, and then drive other consumption.

How does Starbucks "drive away" guests

Starbucks targets consumers in white-collar groups. Note that in the positioning of Starbucks in China, white-collar workers are a state, not an identity. Starbucks stores in China are usually located in office buildings or business districts, and consumers are easily "bewitched" by Starbucks when they take lunch breaks on weekdays, take shopping breaks, meet three or five friends, and so on-- go in and buy a cup. But Starbucks store settings never encourage you to sit all afternoon, and Starbucks marketing methods summed up by "saying one thing and doing another" are by no means excessive.

Starbucks' approach is to make customers uncomfortable. The decoration in the store changes the deep and warm hue of the cafe, but is simple and refreshing, with strong lines, which will not make people feel comfortable leisure scene. Seating arrangement has ulterior motives, specializing in the use of some wooden chairs, high stools, wall tables and other uncomfortable furniture, people can not sit for a long time. If you are careful, you can also feel that Starbucks' air conditioners are usually cooler than those in nearby stores, thinking that this is a benefit. Big mistake, in fact, it is uncomfortable, urge you to buy coffee and go. Starbucks in the United States has even added a new takeout window for autos. You might as well stay out of the restaurant. It's completely McDonald's.

In general, the restaurant meals in the cafe will provide customers with porcelain cups, which can not be taken away until they are finished, so customers will naturally stay in the shop for longer. Whether ready-to-eat or take-out, Starbucks is packed in paper cups, and customers can take the coffee away at any time.

So instead of defining Starbucks as a coffee shop, it is a coffee convenience store where far more customers choose to buy and leave than they enjoy in the store. In contrast, COSTA and Pacific, which are both large chain brands, have more people leisurely surfing the Internet and reading in the store.

From: Xiong Ping, Chongqing Business Daily