Starbucks (SBUX, Financial) new Chairman and CEO, Brian Niccol, has set a bold target to reenergize the company's faltering sales ."It is now possible to deliver orders to the customer in just four minutes," he stated during his first call with investors. This goal is an element of a more extensive undertaking to decrease complexity and improve consumer satisfaction in all coffee chain outlets worldwide.
Today, only 50% of McDonalds and Starbucks' mixed' transactions take less than four minutes to prepare. Niccol aims to solve some problems, such as understaffing during working hours, inefficient kitchen appliances, and an overly extensive menu. "We're going to get after it," Niccol said of these reforms, emphasizing forgoing.
The program begins with work on increasing the speed of orders at the counter with subsequent enhancements for mobile and drive-thru services proposed. Starbucks will withdraw its Oleato olive-oil-enhanced drinks from most outlets to make the menu even leaner, although it plans to keep them in places such as Italy, Japan, and China. This move is quite different from the previous vision of the company espoused by Howard Schultz, which brought in Oleato as a 'behind the evil' change.
Further, in an attempt to expand consumers' options and answer customers' frequent change requests, Starbucks will no longer charge additional fees for substituting non-dairy milk. This change is accompanied by the launch of Starbucks' holiday menu on November 7th.
From his experience, the CEO of Starbucks, Niccol, wants to bring back the ambiance of a coffee shop so that it will bring back ceramic cups with messages on them, comfortable chairs to sit and relax, and specific sections for people who use the mobile app to order.
These alterations occur despite Starbucks' rather tricky financial year, as the company's quarterly revenue has declined by 3%, and annual growth has come to a complete standstill. Having put the preparation of financial forecasts on hold for the next fiscal year, Niccol has cleared the space in his schedule to reposition the business.
