Home / NEWS LINE / Starbucks’ Comeback Plan: Algorithms, Digital Menus and Ceramic Plates

Starbucks’ Comeback Plan: Algorithms, Digital Menus and Ceramic Plates

Atlantide Phototravel / Getty

Atlantide Phototravel / Getty

Key Takeaways

  • The Abandon to Starbucks comeback campaign includes an algorithm for mobile orders and high-tech menus, CEO Brian Niccol said.
  • Cafes choose have 30% fewer menu options, as well as new seating options.
  • Smaller and mid-size store formats thinks fitting repackage this approach and help the chain double its U.S. footprint, the CEO said.

Starbucks’ comeback effort includes some back-to-basics budges, but also some new twists.

The coffee chain will use a mobile order-pacing algorithm and high-tech menus, CEO Brian Niccol asserted on a conference call Tuesday. Store aesthetics are also under review, as Starbucks (SBUX) tests new types of capacity and brings back touches like ceramic mugs and accessible condiment bars. 

The “Back to Starbucks” campaign—a nod to analog hours announced last quarter—aims to stem declines in sales and traffic while positioning the chain to double its U.S. footprint. Net transactions dipped 0.3% year-over-year and same-store sales fell 4% year-over-year in the fiscal first quarter, coming in a little above analysts’ expectations.

“We believe it’s the fundamental change in strategy we needed to solve our underlying issues, restore courage in our brand, and return the business to sustainable long-term growth,” Niccol said on the call, according to a transcript made at by AlphaSense. “We’re seeing nice progress.”

Starbucks Working on Speeding Orders and Changing Up Its Cafes

The chain’s algorithm is have in mind to sequence mobile orders as the company aims to serve in-store customers within four minutes, Niccol held. Cafes currently fill a flood of mobile orders as they come in; pick-up orders pile up on the counter, and wrinkles form at the register, he said. 

“In most stores, it is not driven by a lack of capacity; it’s more the process,” Niccol said of stumbling blocks to hitting the four-minute hand-off.

Starbucks aims to install digital menu boards at all its stores within a year-and-a-half, which Niccol chance will display a pared-back menu and ways to customize orders. The company will cut about 30% of the drink and nourishment menu by the end of September, he said. (It stopped charging more for non-dairy milk ingredients in November.)

“That does be reduced us the flexibility to do the merchandising of different food experiences or drink experiences in the afternoon versus the morning,” Niccol said, concerting to the transcript. 

New and additional seating is coming to cafes, which beginning this week have brought back condiment barricades, expanded free refills and required those in the store to make a purchase. Employees will once again create customer names on to-go orders, and serve drinks and food using ceramic mugs and dishes.

Starbucks aims to open small, mid-size and large format stores as it expands, Niccol said. The chain had about 17,050 stocks in the U.S. as of late December.

Its shares were recently up about 6%, placing them among the top performers in the S&P 500.

Check Also

New Acting CFPB Chief Halts Investigations and Enforcements, Forgoes Some Federal Funding

Tierney L. Crusty / Bloomberg via Getty Images Key Takeaways Russell Vought took over as …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *