Starbucks'"mysterious" coffee

Customers can have a comprehensive understanding of all the dishes and drinks that a store can offer by browsing the contents of the menu, and the higher-grade restaurants make the menu illustrated, so that customers can choose their favorite food at a glance.

In theory, the more items on the menu, the better. However, in the petty bourgeois Starbucks coffee shop, there is a coffee that has not taken a place on the menu after decades. What is the secret of this "mysterious" coffee?

What is the reason why this mini cappuccino is out of the menu? Starbucks' official explanation is that "there is no extra room on the menu", which is really surprising. Although in the eyes of ordinary people, whether the coffee is on the menu or not has little effect on them, economists have found a hidden mystery in it. You know, this mini cappuccino, which is not on the menu, is the key to Starbucks' way to make money.

Fully tap the potential of consumers

In fact, the 8-ounce cappuccino contains the same amount of espresso as the 12-ounce coffee listed on the menu, so a small cup of cappuccino with less water naturally has a stronger flavor. The World Barista Competition made it clear that a cappuccino tastes best at 5 to 6 ounces. However, the average customer always thinks that a small cup of coffee should be cheaper than a large one, regardless of the contents. At the same price of 8 ounces and 12 ounces, consumers always feel that they have lost money.

As customers have the mentality of "similar items, larger models must be more expensive and better", Starbucks is caught in a dilemma. If they want to launch this kind of small espresso and lower the price instead of raising the price, the profit of the coffee shop will be reduced and the loss will outweigh the gain; on the contrary, if the price of coffee is raised, it will lose a certain source of customs. this is what every business does not want to see.

For businesses, the best-case scenario is that those customers who have the spending power choose expensive goods without causing any waste of resources, while ordinary customers spend as much as they can afford. Starbucks' method of "watching people sell coffee" is to make the same coffee as profitable as possible without losing low-end customers.

As for how to judge whether a customer belongs to this category, it depends on the waiter's working experience for many years. Through careful observation, experienced waiters can easily judge whether guests can accept coffee with a strong, mellow taste, small capacity and high price. If you judge that the customer can accept it, then privately recommend the mini cappuccino, otherwise recommend the oversized cappuccino. In this way, Starbucks can easily get rid of the dilemma that price cuts will reduce marginal profits, while price increases will lose customers and make itself in an "invincible position".