The end of October saw tricks, treats, and exciting news from Starbucks. The company recently announced that they will be launching a delivery service mid-2015, as reported by Vancity Buzz. While this has got many people thrilled -the coffee-lover in me included- I cannot help but be skeptical. Under no circumstances do I see this being profitable. Here are two scenarios:
Starbucks charges $10 for delivery
While I adore Starbucks, I’m also a broke university student. On the off chance I treat myself to a painful $5 latte, I’m not paying another $10 for delivery. I wouldn’t even utilize the service, and Starbucks wouldn’t make any money off me, or likeminded individuals. For large corporations and bulk orders, of course it would be worth it.
Starbucks offers free delivery
In an ideal world, delivery would be free, with no trade-offs. Unfortunately, this would either cause the company to lose money and is therefore not a plausible option, or it would force them to increase prices, which would infuriate the populace.
Keeping in mind that the goal is to increase profit, free delivery or not, this would not create incentive to buy: either way, I still only need one coffee.
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