In a strategic move, Starbucks has entered the Chinese co-branding arena, partnering with the iconic “Journey to the West”. This marks Starbucks China’s first beverage collaboration, notably with a Chinese IP – the “superhero” Sun Wukong.
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American coffee brand “Blue Bottle Coffee” opened its first store in China
On February 25th, the American coffee brand “Blue Bottle Coffee” opened its first store in mainland China. On the opening day, fans lined up to buy; large number of customers waited outside the store and lined up for hundreds of meters. Even many scalpers were eyeing the business of reselling the coffee. That morning, the […]
Starbucks expands its O2O service to all major Alibaba apps
Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA; SEHK: 9988) announced yesterday that Starbucks will expand its reach to Chinese customers by introducing its mobile order and pay feature “Starbucks Now” to multiple platforms in the Alibaba’s ecosystem including Taobao, digital mapping and information provider Amap, local services app Koubei, and Alipay.
Looking into Taobao Light Store with Starbucks
If you open mobile Taobao and search “Starbucks”, you may see a new page completely different from before. In the past, when users search an established brand, the corresponding result would be the flagship store. The link to the flagship store will be displayed on the top of the page, with other various relevant goods […]
Starbucks China comparable store sales down 2% in Q3 FY18
In Q3 FY18, Starbucks reported consolidated net revenues up 11% to a record $6.3 Billion from the prior year. The comparable store sales up 1% globally and in the U.S., driven by a 3% increase in average ticket. China comparable store sales decreased 2%.
Starbucks’ expansion in China shows increasing consumer upgrading
Starbucks has succeeded in cementing a leading position in China’s coffee market in a way that might hard to replicate for other foreign companies. Starbucks has increased its footprint in China from around 400 stores since 2010 to more than 3,100. It plans to expand its scale to 5,000 by the end of 2021. The […]
Tencent quietly launched WeChat Boutique Stores
WeChat boutique stores don’t have a direct entry path from the main menu and are triggered to display after the brand terms are searched.
Starbucks promoting group sharing WeChat Gift Cards
Starbucks’ updated WeChat app encourages users to share smaller gift cards in WeChat group chats, instead of just one-on-one. Does the thought of gifting Starbucks in a group chat scare you? No need to worry, because there’s a new series of small 3 and 4 yuan coupons out. Remember the beginning of 2017, when everyone […]
“Say It with Starbucks” available on WeChat
WeChat and Starbucks started strategic cooperation in Dec 2016, which made WeChat Pay available in stores of Starbucks. They started offering social gift cards in early 2017 and launched “Say It with Starbucks” product.
Starbucks starts accepting WeChat Pay
Tencent and Starbucks announced strategic cooperation in Guangzhou today; and from today on, WeChat Pay is available in about 2,500 Starbucks stores in China.