Starbucks, the dominant coffee brand in North America, is planning to provide delivery service in order to meet customer expectation in terms of service. Emily posted in her blog that the money made from delivery will not cover the expenses, so she does not suggest Starbucks come up with this service. Personally, I agree with her view because it will make Starbucks gradually shifting to vague positioning in market.

Today, about 80 percent of purchases of Starbucks Coffee are consumed elsewhere.

More and more customers complain that Starbucks is not as cool as before, with 20,000 stores in 65 countries. It used to cater to the need of mid-age professionals, providing them a “third place” besides workplaces and home to enjoy a cup of coffee with friends, or talk about business. An “affordable luxury” is the value proposition that Starbucks delivered to its customers in early stage, and it was succeed due to the large unfulfilled market and human’s nature of go after different things to the public. However, as Starbucks is trying to expand their target sectors by adding more flavor drinks, it is actually falling out of vogue and possibly sink to a commodity. It is supposed to be a luxurious product but it is actually moving to an un-luxurious world. If Starbucks provides delivery service to its customers, I am sure that they will lose a large amount of core customer base because its brand is not a sense of status and exclusivity anymore. Consequently, these people may start looking for other places that satisfy their demand, and once a brand falls into commodity, it will be harder to come up to previous position.