Starbucks Closes Online Store to Focus on In-Person Experience
Starbucks Closes Online Store to Focus on In-Person
Experience
By STACY COWLEY OCT. 1, 2017
As customers increasingly shift their retail shopping
toward e-commerce, Starbucks is bucking the trend: It shuttered its online
store on Sunday.
The company posted a notice in late August on its online
store notifying shoppers that the site would soon close. The digital store
stocked items like Starbucks coffee and branded mugs and tumblers, along with a
selection of espresso machines, brewing tools and other accessories.
“You can purchase your favorite coffee and Starbucks
merchandise in your local Starbucks,” the company wrote in a note to customers
about the closing of the online store. “We cannot guarantee availability of any
product in stores, but we know you will find many choices to enjoy.”
Maggie Jantzen, a company spokeswoman, said that the
decision to shut down the online store was part of a push to “simplify”
Starbucks’ sales channels.
“We’re continuing to invest in amplifying Starbucks as a
must-visit destination and are looking across our portfolio to make
disciplined, thoughtful decisions,” Ms. Jantzen said.
The company’s chief executive, Kevin Johnson, spoke on
Starbucks’ most recent earnings call about a “seismic shift” in retailing. To
survive, he said, merchants need to create unique and immersive in-store
experiences. (Starbucks decided in July to close its nearly 400 Teavana stores
in malls, which, Mr. Johnson, said were “persistently underperforming.”)
Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks, indicated a
few months earlier that he had soured on digital sales.
“Every retailer that is going to win in this new
environment must become an experiential destination,” Mr. Schultz told
investors in April. “Your product and services, for the most part, cannot be
available online and cannot be available on Amazon.”
Starbucks said it would continue to sell branded products
like coffee through grocery stores and some online sites managed by its sales
partners.
But it broke the hearts of some fans by ending retail
sales of a cult-favorite product line: flavored syrups. The mixes used to
concoct drinks like the Pumpkin Spice Latte are generally not for sale in the
company’s stores, but Starbucks stocked them on its website.
Those days are over. “Syrups and sauces will no longer be
available for retail purchase,” Ms. Jantzen confirmed.
Follow
Elisa @poolgoddess918
Just found out @Starbucks is closing its online store and
I won't be able to order my favorite coffees & vanilla syrup
anymore#heartbroken
9:40 PM - Sep 30, 2017
4 4 Replies 1 1 Retweet
5 5 likes
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Social media filled up with protestations and laments.
“Are you discontinuing the toffee nut syrup sold on the online store??” a
customer wrote to Starbucks on Twitter. “I need that!”
One beacon of hope remained: the gray market. On eBay, a
jug of Starbucks pumpkin spice syrup could be had on Sunday for $100.
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