Introduction: Strategic growth opportunities
- The company can use market penetration strategy through increased social media appearance and advertising to target different consumer segments and, consequently, increasing its market share in the US and other markets.
- Product development strategy means Starbucks has an opportunity to improve on its existing products by using new packaging that simplifies and increases the opportunities for consumption both within and outside the stores;
- Alternately, Starbucks could use market development strategy to sell existing products to new markets; such strategy means the company has to transform its distribution channels (e.g., online delivery) and overlook the consumer cluster;
- Starbucks can use related diversification strategy, i.e., increase its product range as opposed to other food and beverage vendors. An unrelated diversification strategy would mean Starbucks to supply non-coffee-related products and services, which would alleviate some risks its coffee supply chain maintenance presents (Kim and Mauborgne 76).
Opportunity statement
Our opportunity statement is based on recent successful trends and Starbucks analysis. We maintain that the company would succeed at using market development strategy, for which it has an opportunity to establish a delivery system for all food products and merchandise.
In 2015, Starbucks has launched a pilot project of a delivery system. Starbucks went into cooperation with Postmates, a well-known delivery system that processes orders through iOS and Android applications (Postmates n.pag.). The new Starbucks-Postmates delivery system was tested in some districts of Seattle. The delivery price was $5.99 (Russel par. 2-3).
The feedback for Starbucks’ previous projects of this kind has mostly been positive, and the project is still functioning (Matthew par. 5; Starbucks n.pag.). With a wider scope, Starbucks could achieve its objective in cooperation with Postmates which is aiming at delivery under half an hour’s time (Perez par. 10). Postmates has established its reputation working with such corporate giants as Apple, 7Eleven, Walgreens, etc. (par. 12). At that, considering the delivery charge, a wise move would be to turn to businesses. If we start over with Seattle, there is a number of organizations that could be interested in placing coffee, baked goods, and other food orders when they conduct their meetings:
- Amazon.com;
- The Omni Group;
- PEMCO;
- Safeco;
- Capital One Investing;
- Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union;
- Moss Adams;
- Alvarez and Marshal;
- Holland America Line;
- etc.
Initially, the target consumer can be the companies headquartered in Seattle or holding meetings and conferences there. The feature that Starbucks launched in 2015, which is Mobile Order & Pay, is a perfect means for company representatives to place orders (Perez par. 4). Alternately, the clients could use the website.
Starbucks should provide them with an opportunity to place orders for coffee and bigger orders for lunch foods, cold beverages, and desserts for business lunches and banquets. The food and beverages can be delivered upon the order placement from the nearest Starbucks store through Postmates service. The orders are to be delivered on-demand to the organizational premises and, possibly, to meeting rooms.
Corporate customers can be provided with discount and sales opportunities or special offers. For instance, the meeting participants could get fresh fruit salads for free if they order 8 coffees. From the societal marketing perspective, such strategy would account for the short- and long-term needs of the target consumer (businesses) and enhance their well-being.
Works Cited
Kim, Chan, and Mauborgne, Renee. “Blue Ocean Strategy.” Harvard Business Review, 82.10 (2004): 76-84.
Matthew. “What Starbucks’ Delivery Service Has To Do With Storytelling, Customer Experience and Social Media.” RGBSocial. WordPress, 4 Nov. 2014. Web.
Perez, S. “Starbucks Launches A Delivery Service In Partnership With Postmates.” TechCrunch. AOL Inc., 2015. Web.
Postmates. Postmates Inc., 2016. Web.
Russel, Kyle. “Postmates Will Deliver Starbucks, Starting In Seattle.” TechCrunch. AOL Inc., Web.
Starbucks 1607 W Dravus St, Seattle, WA. Postmates. Postmates, Inc., 2016. Web.