Cherry Xu

When I was waiting for this endless line-up at Tim Hortons besides Sauder, I started to think what If there is a Starbucks opened besides it like where the Whitespot is. Which one is going to have the longer line up?

Personally, I am not a loyal customer for any of them. When I need a cup of coffee or tea, I will just go to the one that is closer to me. However, if you are a loyal fan for either one of them, you have your own reasons of course.  Well, I see the price as the dominant differences, followed by products, environment, logo and cup design, and etc.

The logo and cup design can be taken into consideration. Starbucks’ clean white cups look classic yet pretty. Their cups catch better attention than Tim Horton. The images of the stores are different as well. Starbucks have this cozy environment with comfortable sofa and free Wi-Fi. However, Tim Hortons has relatively simple furniture.  

However, when it comes to price, Tim Horton definitely beat Starbucks. Tim Hortons’ cup of coffee costs a lot less than Starbucks; to me they taste the same in a lot of cases.

Tim Hortons has a variety of donuts, muffins and etc. Starbucks not only has food, yogurt and fruit provided, but also offer holiday season special drinks.  Even though the prices of those drinks are more expensive than the regular ones, people are willing to pay extra money to taste the spirit of holidays.

The reason they are having so many varieties is because their target markets are different. Starbucks’s target market might be students with higher income, adults who have a job, businessmen who have short meetings while grabbing coffees or housewives who want to spend some time reading and chatting after riding their children to school. On the other hand, Tim Hortons is targeting at college students who can’t afford expensive coffees everyday and people who want a fast and convenient cup of coffee.