Starbucks offers 300 billion possible drink combinations, according to mathematicians, but this very feature may be causing the coffee giant’s downfall.
The Seattle-based chain has become a Willy Wonka’s playground for customers who want to order any number of elaborate syrups, whipped creams, drizzles, different types of milk and cup sizes.
According Bloomberg, There are more than 383 billion combination possibilities for a latte alone.
But the downside to this is that it takes baristas longer to prepare each creation, and long lines with extreme wait times for a multi-hundred calorie drink that costs $8 are starting to put off customers.
The Seattle-based chain has become a Willy Wonka’s playground for customers who want to order any number of elaborate syrups, whipped creams, drizzles, different types of milk and cup sizes.
Nothing annoys customers more than quickly placing a drink order on the app, only to be met with a mosh pit of people and their drink nowhere to be seen.
Starbucks suffered a six percent drop in U.S. orders in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024 as sales decline.
About 30 percent of all U.S. orders are placed through the app, which has also led to large crowds around mobile order pickup counters in stores.
“Everybody shows up and all of a sudden we have a mosh pit, and that’s not Starbucks,” former CEO Howard Schultz said on a podcast in June.
Part of his vision for the cafe, while under his management, was to create a “third place” where customers would want to linger.
But to meet the demand for drinks, many stores are removing seats to make room for takeout lines.
Starbucks has also begun rolling out drive-thru stores that don’t even offer a place to sit or use the bathroom, a staple in many big cities.
Additionally, cold drinks offer a variety of add-ons, from cold foam to syrups and mixer options, which increases the time it takes to prepare one for a customer.
According to the Wall Street Journal, cold drinks account for about 70 percent of beverage orders in the United States.
Despite being a Gen Z staple, the coffee giant saw a six percent drop in U.S. orders in fiscal Q4 2024, with customers citing price as an issue.
Starbucks has hired Brian Niccol, who has been applauded for his successful turnaround of Chipotle, as its new CEO to save the dying chain.
The company is implementing new innovations to help speed up the process, such as a cold bar station, to help alleviate some of the issues.
Along with the skyrocketing cost of Starbucks coffee, another chink in the coffee chain’s armor is the incessant requests for tips that ask customers to shell out more of their hard-earned cash before even receiving their drinks.
This month, Starbucks hired Brian Niccol (who has been applauded for his successful turnaround of Chipotle) as its new CEO to save the dying chain.
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