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STARBUCKS Coffee Company and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. announced a deep, strategic “New Retail” partnership that will enable a seamless Starbucks Experience and transform the coffee industry in China. Collaborating across key businesses within the Alibaba ecosystem, including Ele.me, Hema, Tmall, Taobao and Alipay, Starbucks announced plans to pilot delivery services beginning September 2018.
According Kevin Johnson, president and chief executive officer, Starbucks Coffee Company said the cooperation to establish “Starbucks Delivery Kitchens” for delivery order fulfillment and integrate multiple platforms to co-create an unprecedented virtual Starbucks store – an unparalleled and even more personalized online Starbucks Experience for Chinese customers.
“The announcement marks a historic moment as two iconic, global companies build on their distinct retail and technology strengths to revolutionize the customer experience. Leveraging the Alibaba ecosystem and New Retail infrastructure, Starbucks will be able to further unify a seamless Starbucks Experience between its stores and online for customers,” he said.
Johnson also mentioned that thanks to the elevated customer experience delivered by our over 45,000 partners, Starbucks is growing and innovating faster in China than anywhere else in the world. Our transformational partnership with Alibaba will reshape modern retail, and represents a significant milestone in our efforts to exceed the expectations of Chinese consumers. Starbucks China is one to watch, and I have full confidence in the team that will bring the new innovation behind the Starbucks Experience to life.
Meanwhile Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of the Alibaba Group, said Starbucks is more than a destination for premium coffee and we share the same vision to pioneer a new coffee culture and lifestyle through innovation and technology.
“Alibaba is thrilled to expand our existing partnership with Starbucks by leveraging our cutting-edge New Retail infrastructure and digital power to enable an unprecedented experience for consumers. This partnership is again a testament to the success of our New Retail strategy,” Zhang said.
He added that the strategic partnership is part of Alibaba’s broader New Retail push, which aims to transform how commerce is conducted by merging online and offline experiences. New Retail was introduced by Alibaba in 2016 and has since become a hallmark strategy of the retail industry.
“Working with Ele.me, China’s leading on-demand food delivery platform with 3 million registered delivery riders, Starbucks will pilot delivery this September in 150 stores located in key trade zones in Beijing and Shanghai with plans to accelerate and expand its delivery program to more than 2,000 Starbucks stores across 30 cities by the end of calendar year 2018,” said Wang Lei, Chief Executive Officer of Ele.me.
“Both Starbucks and Ele.me collaborated to develop a unique, customized delivery infrastructure that has been meticulously determined each step along the way, including dedicated Ele.me delivery riders, precise delivery time, and custom carriers,” he stated
Both companies, he continued have created a tailored order-to-delivery Starbucks program that upholds the unparalleled experience and quality that customers have come to expect in Starbucks retail stores. Through this delivery partnership, Starbucks and Ele.me have pioneered a best-in-class coffee delivery service standard for Chinese customers.
“Ele.me has a robust infrastructure for on-demand delivery in China. We are pleased to partner with Starbucks to launch these reliable and trusted delivery services to satisfy customers’ needs and capitalize on the delivery sector’s great potential. It is an important milestone for Ele.me to deepen our collaboration with retail chains and further expand our penetration in the food delivery sector,” said Wang Lei. [antaranews]
