Starbucks is partnering with Alibaba to deliver its coffee in Chinese cities, betting the move will revive sales growth in its second-largest market that is witnessing aggressive competition from local coffee start-ups.
Starbucks flagged in June that it was pursuing such a tie-up after reporting a sudden slowdown in China sales growth, which it partly blamed on a government crackdown on third-party delivery firms that had previously helped drive orders at its cafes, reports Reuters.
“We quickly saw that here is a world class technology company... that’s focused on retail and modern day retail,” Starbucks Chief Executive Kevin Johnson told reporters in Shanghai.
“I consider this strategic partnership to be one that... will just be rocket fuel for Starbucks’ growth and continued expansion in China,” he said.
The Seattle-based company will begin delivery services in September from 150 Starbucks stores located in key trade zones in Beijing and Shanghai and plans to expand that to more than 2,000 stores across 30 cities by the end of 2018, Starbucks and Alibaba said in a joint statement on Thursday.
The companies will collaborate across businesses within the Alibaba group, including delivery platform Ele.me, supermarket chain Hema, online retailers Tmall and Taobao, and mobile and online payment platform Alipay.
The delivery programme will leverage Ele.me’s 3 million registered riders, and Starbucks will establish “Starbucks Delivery Kitchens” inside Hema stores and use the supermarket’s delivery system to fulfill Starbucks delivery orders.
