Starbucks Seeks online Loyalty

Paper1: http://search.proquest.com/docview/245623500/fulltext/8311A678DBA94B15PQ/1?accountid=10134#center

e-finance: Starbucks seeks online loyalty: Linger over the latte with your laptop Cassy, John. The Guardian [London (UK)] 04 Jan 2001: 1.22.

Abstract

Starbucks operates about 150 outlets in Britain though there are no firm plans to export the scheme across the Atlantic at present.

Starbucks is keen to project a progressive corporate image through new technology but in August it was forced to write off a pounds 14m investment in online venture Living.com, a furniture retailer that filed for bankruptcy protection. Other investments have also struggled.

Full Text

Starbucks Coffee Company has teamed up with Microsoft to make customers linger longer over their lattes.

The Seattle coffee firm has linked with its cross-town neighbour to offer North American customers a range of broadband internet services designed to improve brand loyalty and revenues.

Frappuccino fans will be able to order their favourite drinks over their mobile phones or hook their laptop computers or handheld organisers to the web via a wireless connection when they visit the store for their morning croissant and cappuccino.

"These new relationships will provide us with a great opportunity to enhance our existing customers' in-store experience as well as attract new customers to our retail locations," said Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks. He said 90% of his customers were internet users.

Coffee drinkers will be able to log on to Microsoft's MSN network or access their corporate intranet and work remotely. The network infrastructure will be provided by MobileStar. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Starbucks operates about 150 outlets in Britain though there are no firm plans to export the scheme across the Atlantic at present.

Analysts predict that technology that enables devices to be connected to the internet without wires will be made widely available at buildings like airports, conference halls, shopping malls and coffee shops where there is a captive audience.

Locally provided networks can be much cheaper than national or international networks and businesses like coffee shops believe that if they can offer customers cheaper or free connections to the web, they will hang around their stores longer and buy more goods.

Starbucks is keen to project a progressive corporate image through new technology but in August it was forced to write off a pounds 14m investment in online venture Living.com, a furniture retailer that filed for bankruptcy protection. Other investments have also struggled

Data from:

• Publisher

Guardian News & Media Limited

• 2001
• Author : Cassy, John

paper 2 : http://search.proquest.com/docview/1701252722/D63AF2EEA6754601PQ/1?accountid=10134

The Reasons of Young Consumers’ Choice on Chain Café Stores:

A Research on Starbucks