Tim Hortons To Offer New Dark Roast Coffee Blend In Two Test Markets

Tim Hortons, the largest quick service restaurant chain in Canada, plans to test its new product for the first time in 49 years as it faces intense competition from its main competitors like McDonald’s. The new product, dark roast coffee, will be sold at Ohio and Ontario starting November 4.

This is a new strategy that Tim Hortons chooses to recover its market share as the market share has fell to 77%, while McDonald’s has increased to 11%. This is a significant loss as the Coffee Association of Canada found that 65% of Canadians drink coffee on a daily basis. Decreasing in the percentage of market share also means the decreasing in the potential revenue and profit for Tim Hortons.

I believe that the purpose of testing this new product in two test markets is to see the responsiveness of consumers in Canada and The United States, as well as North America as a whole. Tim Hortons’ strategy to promote its new product and increase its sales is clever because the company will benefit from the reduction in risk, cost and uncertainty. The strategy will also increase the company’s decision quality, as the company may use data and responsiveness from consumer to make its future decisions.

In continuation, another significant advantage of this marketing strategy by Tim Hortons is that it shortens consumer’s decision process due to lower cost (time to search for more information) and risk of making a wrong decision. The strategy also reduces post-purchase dissonance, such as disappointment from consumers, which plays a crucial role on consumers’ perceptions about the company and the products.

Link to article:  Tim Hortons To Offer New Dark Roast Coffee Blend In Two Test Markets