Think your strategy is spot-on? Well, you’d probably be hard pressed to say it’s better than a company based in Seattle that sells beverages in white cups with green logos. (Did we mention there are jokes about how they have stores on every corner?) Yes, we’re talking about Starbucks, the darling of branding and strategy. Well, guess what? The coffee behemoth is changing its strategy. Dramatically.

For years, Starbucks has built itself on being the “third place”—a go-to environment between work and home. The attraction for customers is that it’s an alternate hangout place. Starbucks has cemented that image by giving customers free Wi-Fi, embracing remote workers, establishing loyalty programs that offer free refills and having a very loose (if not non-existent) loitering policy.

But that’s changing.

Over the next 18 months, Starbucks will close about 400 stores to make way for a new kind of store—Starbucks Pickup. As the name implies, these locations will cater to orders that are to-go or delivery. The whole idea of staying and sipping your drink is completely thrown out the window.

Why would Starbucks change something they’ve worked so hard to cultivate? Because the data told them this is the direction customers were heading. Even before COVID-19, 80% of orders were to-go. So this new format just makes sense, especially post-pandemic. Really, Starbucks took a hard look at how their customers operate and found a way to capitalize on how people want to receive their product.

We can do that for your business. With our customer experience maps, we chart out the journey people take from realizing they have a need all the way to becoming an advocate for your company. We look for opportunities throughout where we can maximize your influence and ROI. Once we’re done, you’ll have a living brand that adapts to current climates and customer preferences

If you want to hear about how Starbucks’ turned COVID-19 into a positive for its brand and strategy, read on.

If you want to be like Starbucks and be bold (pun intended) by getting a focused eye on how to improve customer experience, contact us.