OK a quick 30 seconds:
What is Starbucks selling?
Coffee? Espresso-based beverages? Ice-blended coffee (or Frappuccino)?
Well, I don’t deny the fact that there are many other people who actually patronize Starbucks for its coffee and ice-blended beverages; even though I don’t. But again, for coffee, why do these people choose Starbucks over other alternatives?
Take a look at the activities going around in Starbucks, it won’t take us more than 30 seconds to conclude the scene that we have just sighted:
- Full of laptop computers and iPads
- Executives replying their emails
- Students doing their assignments
- Geeks crunching with some codes
- Business people discussing their business activities
So, in today’s context, is Starbucks really just selling coffee?
As Jeremy Wagstaff wrote in his blog post titled “Why We Work in Starbucks“:
Starbucks was never what Starbucks would like us to think it is: It is, primarily, a solo-friendly environment. You can go there on your own, order something and sit there on your own and no-one is going to bat an eyelid.
Undeniably, Starbucks started its history as a coffee company. But it has successfully evolved to keep up with the changes in how people work and socialize. Starbucks understands customer’s needs, and actually evolve its business around better customer experience. The availability of free WiFi and ample power outlets, coupled with an environment that is conducive for work, sets Starbucks apart from other competitors.
So again, what business is Starbucks really in? I think — an environment for people to work, greet and meet.
Interestingly, coffee houses play an important role in the history of art and literature. In Vienna, literature is closely connected with the coffee house culture. Viennese coffee house literature became world famous and made literary history.