Starbucks SWOT Analysis, Competitors & USP

Starbucks

Coffee joints

Food & Beverages

Bring on the day

Commitment to the highest quality coffee in the world

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

Youth in the middle and higher income groups

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

Below are the Strengths in the SWOT Analysis of Starbucks:

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.

Here are the weaknesses in the Starbucks SWOT Analysis:

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 of  prices and experience for local market can be very different from a market like US or UK

Following are the Opportunities in Starbucks SWOT Analysis:

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

The threats in the SWOT Analysis of Starbucks are as mentioned:

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

Below are the top 5 competitors of Starbucks:

1. Barista Lavazza

2. Mochas

3. Costa Coffee

4. McDonald's

5. Cafe Coffee Day