Ch. 15 - Retailing

Starbucks is by far the largest coffeehouse chain. They have over seventeen thousand locations world wide, three-fourths of which are located in the United States. These chain stores provide a very specific service to their customer. They are considered specialty stores, falling into the definition saying, "specializing in a given type of merchandise", paying close "attention to the customer and limited product line."

You can tell by the atmosphere of any one of these coffee locations that, as a successful company, they pay close attention to the retailing mix. They continue to produce top-notch merchandise for their guests, their are many locations in a given area giving the consumer options, they continue to come up with more promotional tools such as different mobile applications, Starbucks stays in an affordable price range for all different financial groups to enjoy, all the store locations are kept clean and the atmosphere is comforting and homey, and on top of it all you are always treated with kindness on a personal leave from the employees. Starbucks makes a special effort to reach out to its target market and then some.

In an effort to integrate new developments in their retailing strategy Starbucks is using both interactivity and m-commerce as techniques. Over the summer they launched the build your own frappuccino special, getting their consumer involved in their coffee addiction. As far as m-commerce goes Starbucks has an application for all of the major smart phones on the market. With this "app" you are able to find Starbucks locations, see your favorite drink and its nutrition facts and cost, manage your Starbucks card, and also send virtual gifts to your friends via email. 

Starbucks continues to stay on top of their retail strategy, making them extremely successful in everything they do.