Starbucks Case Study: Innovation in CRM

strategies, means of enabling E-Commerce

Published on September 22, 2015
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/starbucks-case-study-innovation-crm-strategies-meansstavroula

Brand recognition is a crucial factor for business growth when

customers pay premium prices for robust brands. Marketing connects
a company with its customers and aims to influence consumer
consumption habits. Latest marketing trends and technologies make
value addition and steady revenue stream towards a company.
Marketing communication means create demand for goods and
services. Chief marketing officers and brand manager designations
are common in marketing departments of an organization.
Organizations deploy adequate marketing budgets for brand
management and the creation of a sound customer base (Kotler &
Keller, 2009). Consistent change management is the essence of
marketing management where the stagnant position of a company is
its failure.
Starbucks Company
Starbucks has positioned its brand in the market as a high quality
customer experience brand. Starbucks sells its high quality products
and services at premium prices. The high quality of products and good
customer experiences are the main differentiators of its brand from
other coffee brands in the market. The Company has designed its
stores on theme of Italian bars and provides a home like experience to
its customers. The customers of Starbucks are very loyal to the brand
as Starbucks gives very first priority to customer satisfaction in order
to form a loyal customer base of its brand. Respectively Starbucks
focuses on customer relationship management by integrating
communication with customers.
Starbucks has used aggressive strategies to sustain its position as a
market leader due to intense competitive rivalry in the service
industry, it has adopted branding strategy due to which it changed the
logo that is more focused and highlights the sustainability of company
policies. Seven attributes of marketing mix are demonstrated as
product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical
environment. (e-Marketing Mixology, 2012) The main objective of
marketing mix program is to create communication and deliver value
to customers. Starbucks is using different marketing strategies like
customer relationship management, integrated marketing
communication, creating a good customer experience and social
media marketing. The objective of Starbucks is to share its customer
experience with consumers from low income groups and develops a
long term relationships with them. The weak point of marketing mix
strategy is that it focuses on short term goals and ignores the long term
interests of a company.
Starbucks has adopted a brand differentiation strategy through
product uniqueness and product differentiation in order to
promote its products, it has used innovation in its products and
services in order to gain competitive advantage in the market. The
brand has also positioned itself best coffee brand in the market by
providing attractive store design, unique environment, elegant taste
and high quality coffee beans (Kotler & Keller, 2009). The main
target market of Starbucks, are customers who range from
professionals, businessmen and tourists to students of colleges and
universities. Starbucks customizes its products and services according
to the tastes and culture of different regions and countries therefore it
has opened its coffee shops in other countries in order to introduce its
products and services to customers of international market.
Company markets and sells its products through four channels as food
service operations, consumer packaged goods, licensed stores, and
company's owned chain of retail stores (Starbucks Inc, 2014).
Company's competitive advantage regarding distribution strategy
includes approaching customers while they are at shop, dining,
travelling, and at work through formulating strong distribution
network (Kotler et al., 2005). Manufacturing process of fruit juices
and beverages is best in class than competitors. In order to retain
natural ingredients, company prepares beverages by high pressure
pasteurization (HHP) process to preserve nutrients of juices
(Starbucks Corporation, 2012). In addition to stores' experience and
robust process of HHP, healthy beverages portfolio is also source of
unique selling proposition.

New CRM mobile application tool

Starbucks the last years has offered convenient purchase options
through smart phone mobile apps. Mobile application payment option
generates barcode to be usable in targeted stores. Purchasing is made
by Starbucks card mobile app with the use of a scanner.
Customers can reload balance through PayPal. This payment
option is considered as most flexible and convenient for customers
because it's processing is fast. Company has launched two iPhone
applications for customers namely Starbucks card mobile and my
Starbucks. Card mobile application allows enjoying the useful
features of Starbucks card and mobile commerce features (Kharif,
2012). Company also launched mobile commerce features for
Android smart phones. Company is gaining competitive edge in
rendering mobile commerce transactions while leveraging technology
to cater customers. On the other side, company's strong operating
performance is aiding its global expansion strategy despite the poor
consumer response due to weak economy and economic crisis.
Mobile marketing will play a major role for future marketing
strategies as it might establish it as an important channel to reach
and interact with consumers and may give rise to a higher level of
emphasis placed on the use of mobile devices in the marketing
mix. In 2010, Starbucks developed and implemented an iPhone and
Android mobile application called the 'Starbucks Card Mobile
Application' for customers in the United States (Sande, 2011;
Starbucks, n.d. 1). The main feature of the App allows customers to
generate a 2D barcode on their mobile device to be scanned and used
as payment in stores. The App is an extension of Starbucks existing,
tangible, pre-paid reward card for loyal customers (Starbucks, n.d. 1;
Van Grove, 2011). The App is marketed based on its benefits in saving
time and making purchases more convenient for the customer.
Starbucks (n.d. 1) refers to the App as the fastest way to pay.
The mobile payment and reward card application is an extension of
the current direction of the Starbucks' marketing strategy (Starbucks
n.d. 3). Based on a growth of 21% in the usage of reward cards from
2009 to 2010 Starbucks established the utilization of the mobile
reward card application in 6800 stores across the United States
(Birchall, 2011). By developing mobile marketing programs it seems
to present a further opportunity for Starbucks to fortify the targeted
long term relationships with its customers. Customers allow Starbucks
to gain access to their mobile phones in exchange for improved
experience and convenience. Thus, perceived benefits have to exceed
perceived risks such as the safety of personal data as well as the
security of financial transactions via mobile phones. To enhance the
benefits on the consumer side, Starbucks enables customers to receive
rewards for the usage of the mobile application by receiving a free
coffee after a certain amount of purchases via the card. This also
serves as a positive reinforcement for users of the mobile reward card
(Alreck & Settle, 1999). When applying the CRM, we can see that
the Smartphone App is improving Starbucks' core service provision
by making it more convenient for customers to purchase their coffee
(perceived service quality, perceived value). Relationship bonds are
also applied in the Starbucks case because the App utilizes volume
and frequency rewards in its reward card feature. Social bonds are
applied because continuous and personal relationships are encouraged
with the App, by making the service accessible to each customer direct
to their mobile phone. Customization bonds are applied by tailoring
the App to fit the individual needs of the customer. Structural bonds
are applied because this App incorporates the service delivery system
of the customers' Smartphones to make the service offering more
productive. This element in particular is related to S-D logic theory
(Service Dominant Logic) because there is an interplay between
different service systems in value co-creation. These core service
provisions and relationship bonds raise the switching barriers for
consumers to move to competitors because they have now developed
a stronger loyalty to Starbucks.
In the case of the new App, Starbucks and Apple have co-created
value in their service systems to allow customers to contribute to their
own service offering. This makes it more convenient, time-effective
and rewarding for a customer to choose Starbucks, which therefore
adds value to Starbucks service offering. These benefits of
convenience and saving time are elements of Roger's (1995)
innovation characteristics of relative advantage. Relative advantage is
the key factor in whether an individual will adopt or reject an
innovation (Dann & Dann, 2011). This App saves time for the
customer because they no longer have to wait in line to be served and

they no longer have to be inconvenienced by carrying around a bulky

wallet. It essentially combines a wallet and a phone in one convenient
and time-saving package.
From this case study, five key marketing directions are meant to be
given. These include:
1. The importance of mobile marketing in strengthening customer
relationships
2. The potential transferability of mobile payment technology
3. The potential for more intensive interaction and value creation
4. The need for the integration of online and offline marketing
strategy
5. The limitations and risks of mobile payment technology in a
general context and in the case of Starbucks
Mobile marketing will play a major role for future marketing
strategies. These lessons may establish mobile marketing as an
important channel to reach and interact with consumers and may give
rise to a higher level of emphasis placed on the use of mobile devices
in the marketing mix. Service delivery through mobile marketing
appears to be an important component in building successful
differentiation in highly competitive and mature markets. Mobile
technologies can help companies develop their customer relationships
and create positive experiences for their consumers. In order for an
online-based technology, such as this App, to provide its value-added
service it needs to be integrated with offline marketing components.
Offline elements such as the baristas skills in producing the coffee,
the well-placed geographic locations of the stores, the physical
promotional channels creating and maintaining brand equity, the
tangible card-reader hardware and the sensory experiences of the instore ambience needs to be combined with online elements such as the
software platform hosting the App, web-based community forums and
individualized online customer profiles. Even the nature of the mobile
payment App cannot function without the simultaneous integration of
its online and offline components. The customer is using the App to
process the transaction online while at the same moment they are
receiving the product in person (offline).
Limitations of innovation CRM Strategy
From this case study, five key limitations and risks have been
identified.
1. The first limitation is that international transference may be
restricted. Some countries may not have as extensive or
substantial technological infrastructure to support this program
and their consumers may not be as advanced in the adoption of
Smartphones and progressive applications.
2. The second limitation is the trial ability of the App.
Consumers who have no experience with this method of
payment can download the App for free, but in order to actually
test it in-store they need to open an account and upload credit for
the transaction. This may be asking a higher level of commitment
than the consumer is prepared to give.
3. The third limitation is the high cost and increased risk
associated with future developments. The next step in mobile
payment is to utilize Near-Field Communication without the
barcode, which requires the installation of embedded chips
within the phone to enable the data transfer (Kharif, 2011;
Patauner et al., 2007). This also requires specialist machine
readers in each store, which can be expensive for a company to
implement. Furthermore, a simple touch-on payment transaction
without verification may raise even further the perceived risk of
financial information security.
4. The fourth limitation is the lack of acceptance of mobile
payment. Mobile payment in itself is currently limited as it is
not a widely accepted practice in society, for consumers as well
as businesses (Portio Research, 2010). However this may change
in the future if more companies standardize the practice and
consumers adopt the behaviour.
5. Finally, this technology is not unique for Starbucks since
competitors may implement similar applications and create
similar experiences. To remain competitive with value-added
service, such as with the Mobile Payment and Reward Card App,
Starbucks must monitor the effectiveness of innovations and
utilize future technologies where applicable to satisfy customer
needs before its competitors.
Industry wide broadness and uniqueness of the products are the
elements of differentiation strategy which is used by Starbucks as part

of its market strategy. Innovation of new product ideas is the heart

of company's competitive strategy that puts a company in the
position to charge premium prices as compared to its competitors.
Provision of good and pleasant environment, healthy trends in the
lives of its customers is the prime focus of the company. The company
used differentiation strategy in its products, quality of coffee beans,
brand, taste, roasting and pleasant environment of caf.
Conclusion
Company is facing difficulties in retaining its premium brand image
due to slow down of economy but comparatively it has bright
opportunities in China and India. Company has implemented strong
HR practices to satisfy employees so they act as brand promoters of
company and manage effective customer relations. The company is
consistently engaged in improving the quality of its products which
lead the improvements of the lives of its customers. The rush of
customers at the company stores, increasing sales and profitability is
the demonstration of the company's marketing success in achieving its
objectives. Company should be careful about its expansion
strategies to avoid destruction of brand as happened in near past.
Company should sustain its social media marketing strategies
while devising innovative practices. Company did not rely on external
channels like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter but established its own
communication channels to connect the customers with company as
"My Starbucks Idea". Starbucks should create good combination of
different elements as part of its overall social media plan that
attracts and retains millions of fans towards brand's doing. Localized
marketing strategies and use of technology is advisable in its
campaign. Starbucks should revitalize its brand in world new
regions and existing markets where it has distorted. It should design
its marketing strategies in order to attract customers from low
income groups and also investigate the possibility of providing its
products with discounted prices in order to attract low income
customers, it is well known that in Greece they have the most
discounted prices, they have lowered them when at the same time in
other European Countries Starbucks has raised its prices by 10 or 20
per cent. A new pricing policy may combine focus on new product
development, careful customer segmentation, loyalty compensation,
new tech & applications utilization etc.. A famous and well
recognized brand should "pay back" in multiple ways if it is to keep
its loyal customer base and ask for premium prices within a turbulent
and recessionary business environment.
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This article is incorporated in the following Oxford University Press (OUP) book
publication on Customer Relationship Management Dr N H Mullick, 2016, Oxford
University Press, New Dehli, ISBN 978-0-19-945675-8 with my permission.
Ms Panagiotaropoulou Stavroula has been teaching CRM & is the author and
lecturer of the CRM videolectures of the corresponding National & Kapodistrian
University's E-Learning Program.