Starbucks in the community sells coffee and plays with finance.

The same situation has been repeated in Beijing, where two Starbucks with completely different atmosphere can be passed within 500 meters of Sanlitun, a trendy landmark. One is located on the first floor of an office building, and people are busy talking about various businesses; outside, Starbucks Sanlitun store, hipsters and fashionistas lean lazily on soft leather sofas, drink an iced latte and talk aimlessly.

Howard Schultz (Howard Schultz), chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks Coffee, likes this. In the United States, he uses intensive store opening as a strategy for the company to start, and the same model hopes to be replicated in China. Starbucks has more than 1200 stores in more than 60 cities in China and will have more than 1500 stores in 2015. " In Beijing in June, Schultz was full of pride.

Open a store in the community

In fiscal year 2013 (October 2012 to September 2013), Starbucks' revenue reached US $14.207 billion, of which net revenue in China and the Asia-Pacific region was US $917 million, an increase of 27.1% over the same period last year. The expansion of new stores, especially "big stores", has always been the killer mace of Starbucks in China. In the past two years, Starbucks has launched super-large-scale flagship stores in first-tier cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

Today, the central business district is no longer the only direction for Starbucks to expand, and the community is its new oasis. Compared with the urban central business circle, the flow of community commerce is slightly lower, but it also has its own advantages, such as fixed customer base, high repeat purchase rate and customer loyalty, and so on. Modern people are under great pressure at work and have a fast pace of life, and they are unwilling to endure congestion for a cup of coffee to drive to the city center. Community business can just meet the needs of these people. In terms of business itself, the facade rent of the community is cheaper than that of the city center, and it is easier to build a business model of "low input and stable return".

This is a new opportunity for Starbucks horse racing enclosure. "in China, Starbucks continues to improve the design of its stores, striving for each Starbucks to become a unique 'third space' and investing a lot of resources, such as setting up Starbucks University of China to train and upgrade star barists. to meet the changing needs of customers and local communities." Schultz said. While it is necessary to do as the Romans do, what Starbucks needs especially now is to integrate into the community with its own values and form effective interaction with local residents.

Like all businessmen, Schultz wants to increase single-store sales while reducing costs, with comparable store sales growing 7 per cent globally in fiscal 2013 and 9 per cent in China and the Asia-Pacific region. In many Chinese cities, the open source approach of store managers is not to promote the surrounding office buildings, but to pick some regional coffee shops to keep in touch with the local community, and the way to promote their brands is not through traditional marketing or advertising. But through products, people and communities to convey Starbucks experience and develop their own business.

"Starbucks employees look for a variety of local community service programs, from protecting stray animals to explaining coffee knowledge to community students, posting them on bulletin boards, organizing employees to participate in volunteer activities, and encouraging regular customers to join." Said John Culver, president of Starbucks China and Asia Pacific. For example, through the "caring for the Earth" program, Starbucks combines itself with the people's growing awareness of environmental protection and volunteerism to bridge the psychological gap with customers.

Starbucks strives to add more local elements and apply its in-depth understanding of culture to business practices. For example, in business centers or office buildings, small stores do well, such as employees buying bacon cheese sandwiches on their way to work in the morning, and in shopping malls or fashion landmarks. Chinese consumers prefer spacious space and sofas to relax, so some of the new Starbucks stores will be close to 350 square meters.

Consumers in small cities in China are just starting to drink Starbucks, while mature coffee consumers in big cities need higher-end stores, according to Belinda Wong, president of Starbucks China. In 2013, they hired graffiti artists to redecorate a Village store in Sanlitun, Beijing, to attract young and wealthy fashionistas.