Starbucks Value Proposition

Starbucks was founded in 1971. They have 18.850 stores in more than 40 countries which makes them the first coffee specialty retailer in the world. They operate most of their stores having only 50 franchises (as of 2017) as to keep strict control over quality. The success of Starbucks is based on their unique value proposition. They offer customer the finest coffee produced by themselves, with strong commitment on creating a global social impact, served in stores that promote a welcoming and warmth sphere where everyone can feel “like home”.

Customer satisfaction is at the core of their actions in every step of their supply chain. The company offers different products in their stores, letting the customers decide whether to consume them

The first one is the coffee, as the company strives to get the best quality coffee to provide the best experience for their customers and deliver their value proposition. Indeed, to assure this high-quality Starbuck controls as much of the supply chain as possible. The company implemented a strategy that insures the same process in each of its facilities. They have a strict supplier policy and very few facilities to roast the coffee beans to be able to supervise the whole process and make sure that each bean and packaging is done the same way. This reinforces the intent on competitiveness as they have a control over their supply chain and create value throughout every step of the process. To decrease the complexity of the process, Starbucks has a set of suppliers that have specific locations to deliver their coffee beans to, allowing them to control the production. This is due to their highly-centralised processes that enables Starbucks to control their global networks. Another component of their value proposition is the service. The process of their customer service follows a pattern that is common to every Starbucks Coffee Shop in the world. This process helps them deliver their value proposition through four different and simple aspects which are to create the perfect product, to deliver this product in a short period of time, the caring product delivery and finally the adoption of effective problem-resolution procedure. As the competitive advantage of the company is to differentiate by delivering a unique customer experience by focusing on those four aspects Starbucks ensures that their process deliver their value proposition. The key aspect of their operations in store relates to personalisation and customisation of products as well