After two years of competition with local companies that provide cheaper coffee, President Starbucks Coffee Corp (統一星巴克) said its sales had grown 3 percent in the first half of this year from a year ago. It said the performance was the result of a market segmentation strategy that has helped increase the number of customers.
The company said sales from stores that have been open for more than 13 months fell between 5 percent and 7 percent in 2006 and last year as a result of competition from cheaper coffee shops.
President Starbucks said the solution was market segmentation.
Positioning itself as a provider of specialty coffee, the company said it did not have plans to lower its prices in order to compete with 85˚C, 7-Eleven’s City Cafe and McDonald’s McCafe.
“The worst thing would be not having a firm stand and being led by the nose,” John Hsu (徐光宇), president of President Starbucks, said at a press conference yesterday.
“Sales growth in the first half of this year exceeded our original target, which will have a positive impact on the company’s operations,” Hsu said.
Hsu said stores located near Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (台灣高鐵) stations have made a substantial contribution to sales growth this year, with stores located in Wujih (烏日), Taichung County, and Zuoying (左營), Kaohsiung County, now among the top 10 stores in terms of sales.
Meanwhile, the company said it would accept pre-orders for its coffee moon cake gift boxes beginning today, at prices between NT$400 and NT$1,380 per box.
President Starbucks operates 219 stores nationwide, 190 of which have been operating for 13 months or more.
The company said it intends to open 20 new stores this year while closing some stores where the rent is too high.
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