Starbucks SWOT Analysis

Published in Food & Beverages category by MBA Skool Team

Starbucks is one of the leading brands in the food & beverages sector. Starbucks SWOT analysis evaluates the brand by its strengths & weaknesses which are the internal factors along with opportunities & threats which are the external factors. Let us start the SWOT Analysis of Starbucks:

Starbucks Strengths

  1. Starbucks has excellent brand name and brand visibility across the globe and is synonymous with coffee chains and related customer experience
  2. The company has younger demographics as its customer base helping it becoming popular and achieve scale faster
  3. Excellent ambience and service are the hallmarks of any Starbucks store
  4. Starbucks is one of the most popular coffee outlets in the world and is popularly recognized
  5. Starbucks has own brands of food products and coffee
  6. Starbucks logo and name has high brand recall
  7. The company is one of the strongest franchises in the world
  8. The company is recognized as a dependable brand by customers across the world
  9. Starbucks has a unique way of connecting with customers by writing by their names of the coffee cups which is part of the overall customer experience
  10. Starbucks has extended globally in most of the major markets and has strong supply chain network which enables them to get their own ingredients maintaining the quality across the globe at the highest standards
  11. The quality of their core offerings like Flat white, cappuccino, latte etc. is very high and people are ready to pay for the quality and ambience
  12. May people prefer coffee while travelling, Starbucks gives proper experience with good quality cups for people who want to carry their coffee out during travel and walking.

Above are the strengths in the SWOT Analysis of Starbucks. The strengths of Starbucks looks at the key internal factors of its business which gives it competitive advantage in the market and strengthens its position.

Starbucks Weaknesses

  1. Menu items at Starbucks are often perceived to be expensive as compared to other chains and local players
  2. Starbucks is still rising in a lot of newer markets like India
  3. Health conscious customers have started to move to more health based beverages 
  4. Being a global chain, sometimes the expectation ofprices and experience for local market can be very different from a market like US or UK

These were the weaknesses in the Starbucks SWOT Analysis. The weaknesses of a brand are certain aspects of its business which it can improve.

Starbucks Opportunities

  1. Introduce cheaper versions of coffee based items so that the target audience can afford them better
  2. Starbucks can tap the smaller towns/cities in newer markets
  3. Could diverse their product not only in coffee e.g. Beverages like Tea are preferred in many markets like India, UK
  4. Rising consumerism in emerging markets can lead to spend in services like good quality coffee
  5. Home Delivery and Consumer products as during pandemic a lot of customers didn't go to office or outside

Above we covered the opportunities in Starbucks SWOT Analysis. The opportunities for any brand can include prospects of future growth.

Starbucks Threats

  1. Threat from existing coffee chains and fast food outlets where coffee is offered along with other food items
  2. Dependent on Government commodity rates
  3. Global financial crisis which make peoples tend not to spend too much money.
  4. Threats of substitute products and services include other drink items such as colas, teas or juices that are sold in retails.
  5. Perceived ill effects of coffee consumption by many people.
  6. Pandemic where people tend not to go out can severely impact business

The threats in the SWOT Analysis of Starbucks are as mentioned above. The threats for any business can be external factors which can negatively impact its business.

Hence this concludes the Starbucks SWOT analysis.

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About Starbucks

The table below gives the brand overview along with its target market, segmentation, positioning & USP

Starbucks Overview
Parent Company

Starbucks

Category

Coffee joints

Sector

Food & Beverages

Tagline/ Slogan

Bring on the day

USP

Commitment to the highest quality coffee in the world

Starbucks STP
Segmentation

People looking to go to have a coffee and snacks at a hangout place

Target Market

Youth in the middle and higher income groups

Positioning

A place where you can have a great coffee along with a great experience


This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

Browse marketing analysis of more brands and companies similar to Starbucks. This section covers SWOT Analysis along with Segmentation, Target Market, Positioning & USP of more than 2000 brands from over 20 industry sectors.

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