Starbucks plans to rapidly expand stores in China to speed up "local transformation and development"

As a global chain, Starbucks now has a market capitalization of 553.1 billion yuan. In the fourth quarter of last year, Starbucks' global profits hit a record high, with global store sales up 8%. Of this total, store sales in China and the Asia-Pacific region increased by 6%.

The number of white-collar workers in China has grown rapidly in recent years, which is also the main consumer group of Starbucks operating in China. In the process of China's economic transformation, some enterprises have begun to shrink the front, why does Starbucks move against the wind? What is the strategic judgment behind the massive expansion? Zhao Ping, a special commentator of Economic Voices and a researcher at the Research Institute of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, made an analysis and comments:

Economic Voice: Starbucks' rapid expansion in China is a myth. In a country like China, where there is no habit of drinking coffee, the business of drinking coffee is so big and intriguing that it has even become an example for Jack Ma to study and learn from. Now the performance of many international catering chains such as Yum and Hershey has declined in the Chinese market. Starbucks' profits hit a record high last year. Now Starbucks will further expand its stores, and some foreign media hold a negative attitude towards this strategy, describing it as "Bad Street". What do you think?

Zhao Ping: Starbucks' current expansion in China should be said to be optimistic about the prospects of the Chinese market. In the news two days ago, Ma Yun also said that I think it might play the finishing point on Starbucks' expansion. At that time, Ma Yun said, it's not that the physical store is having a hard time, but your physical store is having a hard time. Although it is common to bet against China and hard landing, Starbucks' expansion proves Jack Ma's judgment that not every industry in China is having a hard time, and not every company in this industry is having a hard time. In fact, China's coffee market is still in a stage of rapid growth, and the potential for future development is very huge. Not only does Starbucks have such rapid expansion plans, but some local coffee brands have also expanded very fast in the past few years. Shangdao Coffee, for example, which opened shop earlier in China, had 2600 stores by the end of last year, much more than Starbucks. Judging from the structure of coffee consumption, foreign freshly ground coffee accounts for more than 80% of the total coffee consumption, while instant coffee generally has only a market share of more than 10%, while in China, on the contrary, the proportion of currently ground coffee is only 16%. Therefore, this market is still in a period of rapid growth, and the potential for the future is still very great. Companies like Starbucks have chosen to continue to expand, and I think it is optimistic about the future of the market.