USA Today reported this afternoon,
“With almost $12.7 billion in U.S. sales in 2014, Starbucks pulled away from Subway and claimed the No. 2 slot for the first time, according to the report. Subway, which is privately held, does not generally report its U.S. sales, but it informed Technomic that its 2014 U.S. sales were $11.9 billion. McDonald’s remains far-and-away No. 1, with U.S. sales of $35.8 billion in 2014.”
From an analytics standpoint it is not hard to see why this is. Starbucks is the definition of a customer centered service business. From the warm atmosphere from the moment that customers step in the door to the barista calling out the customer’s name when they’re drink is ready- they excel at personalizing their customer service.
It is not hard to see why they are the second leading fast food service in the nation and with their quick easy and relatable sales approach it would not surprise me if they continue they’re rapid ascent for at least a few more years to come.
BoweryJE22
Starbucks is a good company, but I don’t know if you’ve followed what has happened recently with them and their #racetogether campaign. They started a recent marketing campaign that was attempting to address race issues in America given some of the recent controversies over race in certain cities. It has apparently blown up in their face and made a lot of African Americans mad. The idea behind racetogether was that it was supposed to enable workers at Starbucks to engage people in conversations about race by using the phrase racetogether in conversation or by writing it on someones cup. I think in general it was a bad idea from the get go, and it may very well hurt their sales. I think it has been a PR nightmare for them.
Austin, the #racetogether campaign was definitely a poor sales move, but I think it will cause only a small flare-up in decreased sales. As David said, Starbucks is in a fairly solid position given their generally customer-oriented sales approach. The #racetogether campaign may not have been very sensitive to the customer in the moment, but I think this is nothing in comparison to the deep, long-term, trust relationship Starbucks has built with its customers over the years. I doubt Starbucks will ever beat the sales giant McDonald’s, but I think it will continue to grow. Thoughts?
I find it interesting that Starbucks takes on as many issues as it does. Not many companies will make a statement over a heated social problem or issue in America. Perhaps this is something that makes them stand out from their competitors. Not many marketers would make a statement about race that could potentially create a lot of negative PR. Even if it was for the right reasons. This is just something that most business don’t do in the corporate world. Interestingly enough, even with Starbucks making statements that are controversial to some, they are still a top level corporation.