Services Marketing Report: Starbucks Customer Experience Analysis

This report provides a detailed analysis of Starbucks' services marketing strategies. It begins with an overview of Starbucks as a company, including its global presence and product offerings. The report then presents a flowchart illustrating the front-end and back-end operations of a Starbucks store, highlighting key aspects such as order taking, payment processing, and preparation of orders. The significance of service encounters is discussed, emphasizing the importance of customer experience and satisfaction. The report also explores the managerial implications of Starbucks' service strategies, including the need to maintain service quality and adapt to the competitive market. The analysis incorporates various academic sources to support its findings, offering insights into how Starbucks has established a strong position in the global market through effective strategies focused on customer satisfaction and service quality.

Running Head: Services Marketing
Starbucks
Services Marketing

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Table of Contents
Flow chart example of Starbucks.................................................................................................3
Front End..................................................................................................................................3
Back End..................................................................................................................................5
Significance of Service Encounter...................................................................................................7
Managerial Implication....................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Starbucks is an American coffee company and the first coffeehouse was developed in
Washington in 1971. After that, it has approximately 24,000 coffee shops and coffeehouses
across the globe. In Australia only, it has around 27 stores including in Sydney, Melbourne, and
Brisbane. Starbucks serves numerous types of coffee and along with the coffee, beverages and
other food items are also serves in Starbucks. This place is being visited by all age group’s
people. Starbucks is famous for quality of coffee which they provide to its customers (Schultz,
2012).

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Flow chart example of Starbucks
Front End
Entrance Area
Taking order from
customer
Generating the bill
Receiving payment
(card/cash)
Call the customer to take
the order
Taking feedback from
customers
Preparation of
order

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In the front end stage of Starbucks, customers are given priority as they are the main component
of Starbucks' business. The café is operating its activities and functionalities on the basis of self
service. After entering the café, the infrastructure of the café is well defined; due to which it
becomes easier for the customer to opt for their menu as it is displayed above the order counter.
The café is found overcrowded and in some scenarios, long queues are also observed around the
café (Wilson, et. al., 2012). For placing the orders, the customers are supposed to head towards
the order counter where the digitalised menu is presented. After making the order, customer is
required to make the payment. Various payment methods have been provided at the counter,
after doing so, the customers can enjoy their meals in the sitting area.
As presented in the right corner of the flow chart, the white block is indicating the speciality of
the café i.e. coffee. Apart from coffee, they also serve snacks and main course dishes too.
Consumers can also place the order for deserts as Starbucks is known for serving best quality ice
creams and deserts. At exit points, consumers are also asked to give reviews in relevance with
their services offered. After having coffee and other meals, guests may leave the table or they
could also spend some time in the café only (Huotari & Hamari, 2012).

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Back End
Following is the back end flowchart of Starbucks’ activities:
Source: By Author
Back end process includes all those activities which are performed in the back stage i.e. activities
performed on the back side of the operation area. Back end staff plays an empirical role in
offering high quality services to the customers. Lot of people and their hard work is get involved
in this process. Back end process of Starbucks includes housekeeping under which premises of
the café is kept neat and clean. All the activities in relation with the staff are performed under
human resource management, their salary; bonus, etc. are included under this department. Apart
from these operations, the crucial element of the organization is maintaining quality of the
products and services, as Starbucks is known for its coffee's quality and taste across the globe,
hence; organization needs to maintain that taste to satisfy the consumer's requirements. Along
Housekeeping
Human Resource Management
Maintaining Quality of Coffee and Food
Staff Documentation
Post Operation Activities

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with these activities, staff documentation and post operation activities such as cleanliness and
administrative activities are performed (Krishnamurthy, SivaKumar & Sellamuthu, 2010).
Significance of Service Encounter
The main concern of the service industry is to evaluate the methods to make the customers'
experience better. As customers is the reason for the success of the organization. And in the
scenario of Starbucks, customers are kept on the priority so that organization could achieve
adequate success and growth. The effectiveness of the service offered by Starbucks could be
evaluated on various service encounters’ basis. Customers’ experience should be converted into
an unforgettable experience to prove the organizational service’s impact on the customers (Udo,
Bagchi & Kirs, 2010). All those areas which are crucial in terms of improving the customers’
experience should be adopted. Best and effective way for implementing this strategy is to
evaluate the review given by customers. For proving the impact of service encounter in real life
situation, Starbucks has made the strategy of making customers feel luxurious and important
through delivering high quality goods and services. Service encounters help the business
organization to perform their activities in an adequate and effective manner to enhance the
service quality. These encounters do affect the activities of business as well as they also
determine the negative aspects of the business (Chang, Chen & Lan, 2013).

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Managerial Implication
Organization i.e. Starbucks needs to evaluate the best possible way to attain adequate success
and growth. This also helps the organization to perform in the competitive business environment.
Across the world there are a lot of international as well as local coffee shops and cafes are
available, still, Starbucks has established its strong position in the global market (Ugbomhe &
Dirisu, 2011). This is due to the adaptation of effective and appropriate strategy in relevance
with the organizational structure. Service industry’s biggest achievement is their customer’
satisfaction and this could be provided through practicing adequate and effective strategies
within the workplace. Service industry's services are compared with the economic values. Most
of the customers compare the price of the service with the feeling generated from the availing of
the particular service. Hence, an organization needs to perform in such a manner where they
could enhance the consumers' satisfaction at its best. Customers should not be given any chance
for complaining in relevance with the services offered by the organization. In the scenario of
Starbucks, coffee which is the best product provided by this café and along with the coffee, lot of
services are provided to customers, such as treatment of customer while entering the premises of
café, providing hygienic sitting arrangements, etc. All these actions form the success path for the
organization as well as it also motivates the organization to enhance its service qualities as well
as other relevant factors to provide better services to its customers (Cannoy & Cannoy, 2010).
For providing appropriate services, an organization needs to adopt the certain set of strategies to
which it can enhance its working procedures and could build an effective image in the global
market. The implication of these strategies also forms the source of Return on Investment (ROI).

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All the decision should be taken in relevance with the customers' perception to follow the
adequate path otherwise results could be generated in the negative manner (Hajli, 2014).
In relevance to the service industry, evaluation of Starbucks’ strategies defines that they work as
per the requirements of their customers. The services offered by Starbucks as a brand and
services provided by other restaurants and cafes show the difference. This shows the
effectiveness of advanced and unique strategies adopted by the organization. To achieve more
growth and expansion in rest countries of the world, Starbucks needs to maintain its products’ as
well as its services’ quality.

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References
Cannoy, S.D. & Salam, A.F., 2010, “A framework for health care information assurance policy
and compliance", Communications of the ACM, 53(3), pp.126-131.
Chang, C.S., Chen, S.Y. & Lan, Y.T., 2013, “Service quality, trust, and patient satisfaction in
interpersonal-based medical service encounters”, BMC health services research, 13(1), p.22.
Hajli, M.N., 2014, “A study of the impact of social media on consumers”, International Journal
of Market Research, 56(3), pp.387-404.
Huotari, K. & Hamari, J., 2012, “Defining gamification: a service marketing perspective”,
In Proceeding of the 16th International Academic MindTrek Conference (pp. 17-22). ACM.
Krishnamurthy, R., SivaKumar, M.A.K. & Sellamuthu, P., 2010, “Influence of service quality on
customer satisfaction: Application of SERVQUAL model”, International Journal of Business
and Management, 5(4), p.117.
McKenzie-Mohr, D., 2011, “New society publishers”, Fostering sustainable behavior: An
introduction to community-based social marketing.
Schultz, H., 2012. Pour your heart into it: How Starbucks built a company one cup at a time.
Hachette UK.
Udo, G.J., Bagchi, K.K. & Kirs, P.J., 2010, “An assessment of customers’e-service quality
perception, satisfaction and intention”, International Journal of Information Management, 30(6),
pp.481-492.

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Ugbomhe, O.U. & Dirisu, A.B., 2011, “Organizational structure: Dimensions, determinants and
managerial implication”, Internafional Journal of Economic Development Research and
Investment, 2(2), pp.10-18.
Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J. & Gremler, D.D., 2012, “McGraw Hill”, Services
marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm.