File Photo/NBD

March 22 (NBD) -- Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain, on Tuesday launched its curbside service in China, which had been in preparation for two and a half years, in nearly 150 stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

Will the channel innovation, designed to expand the boundaries of the third space bring new growth to Starbucks?

In the past, the uniqueness of the third space has allowed Starbucks to penetrate deeply into the Chinese market. So far, out of the 36,000 stores worldwide, more than 6,000 are in China. But same-store sales in China fell 29% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2022.

This has certainly put pressure on Starbucks China's operators. Starbucks China told NBD that judging from store sales, the third space still has strong consuming power.

"Young people have been spoiled by takeouts," Judy Zhang, vice president of digital ventures, at Starbucks China., said in a media interview on March 21. Car restaurants in the US were particularly popular after the epidemic because many customers were unwilling to get out of their cars to avoid contact. But it is difficult to open car restaurants in China. We must come up with bold innovations to bring ultimate convenience to Chinese consumers, added Zhang.

Zhang Lingyun promoted the cooperation between Starbucks China and Amap which jointly created the curbside service. It is expected that there will be more than 1,000 Starbucks stores nationwide offering such a service in the next year.

But how large is the growth space of this model remains to be seen.  

Starbucks China told reporters: "We have continuously optimized the product and function in the early stage, and will continue to optimize later. We believe that the curbside service will greatly meet the on-the-go consumption needs of urban customers, which will bring a positive impact to the business."