Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee brand, based in the United States.
The company is known as a highly customer focused brand with a strong global presence.
Over the past several years, Starbucks has continued to strengthen its position in the Chinese market.
The company was founded in 1985 and operates across 85 countries.
Apart from coffee, Starbucks also sells tea, other beverages and food products.
The company is known worldwide for its focus on product quality and customer experience.
Starbucks is also known for having managed an excellent organizational culture.
It is operating in a highly competitive market environment.
It sells premium priced products and targets the higher end of the market mainly.
While the company has maintained a strong brand image, it does not invest heavily in marketing and promotions.
The company has mostly relied on word of mouth for brand building.
In recent years, it has grown the use of digital channels for marketing of its brand to reach new customers.
In 2020, the company experienced a decline in sales and revenues due to the pandemic.
Its net revenues declined to $23.5 billion in 2020 from $26.5 billion in 2019.
As of 2020, the company operated 32,660 stores worldwide.
The highest number of Starbucks stores are located in the United States.
There were 8,941 Starbucks stores operational in the US in 2020.
China is the second largest market of Starbucks with 4,704 stores operational as of 2020.
Starbucks Target Market:-
Starbucks is a premium coffee brand that targets affluent customers mainly.
It mainly targets the urban customers.
The brand has positioned itself as a premium brand that offers a premium coffee experience.
Apart from excellent quality coffee, its elegant stores offer the space customers need to relax and enjoy their cup of coffee.
The focus of the company is not just on product but on the entire experience.
The company trains its baristas to offer best in class customer service.
Its customers are mainly in the 25 to 40 age group that include high wage earners.
Customers in the 18-24 age group are also an important target segment for Starbucks.
However, these are urban customers from affluent families.
Its customers mostly tech savvy customers that are also highly educated.
A few last words about Starbucks and its target market:
Behind the success of every great brand is marketing.
Starbucks has used an unconventional approach to marketing its brand.
The company has also successfully targeted a distinct segment of customers that are mainly from the affluent class.
Its target audience is made of modern, and tech savvy, high wage earners.
Successful targeting has helped the company improve its penetration rate in various markets including the US and China.
The company has sharply improved its footprint in China over the past several years.
Both the millennials and gen Z are among the core target segments of Starbucks.
The company is using social media and other digital channels to reach its target market globally.