Starbucks’ innovative approach: a pilot discussion about how to enhance customer experiences in the hospitality sector.

Abstract

Starbucks is a US multinational corporation known for riding the wave of globalisation through business innovations that improve customer convenience. This study focuses on the factors behind Starbucks' competitive advantage that attracts customers through its innovative approach to solving customer problems and its ability to meet customer needs through its service delivery process. It has been found that Starbucks has gained global customer advocacy through a loop of continuous strategy execution and its evaluation and revision. This study proposed an analytical model based on the research outputs, how it innovates on customer experience and products to enhance the sustainability of its business. The key elements of their competitiveness are: 1) providing services that meet the needs through localisation; 2) accumulating strategic achievements as corporate capital and developing human capital to support services; 3) creating value as a comfortable third place for customers.