Starbucks had an unique excuse yesterday for why its sales growth disappointed last quarter. Their "reasoning" goes like this ... their new "order and pay" cell phone app has proven so popular that their stores are very congested with pick-ups causing other customers to get discouraged and leave ... see: CNBC Story. What? This is a logical disconnect. Starbucks has so much new business that revenue growth is down! How can this be?
'
It would seem to me that the Starbucks baristas can make just so many lattes, cappuccinos, espressos, Americanos, etc. in a given period no matter what the order source. And, since payment has been preprocessed outside the store, customer throughput should increase. Therefore, if the demand for their Java is daunting, then revenues should also be spiraling. That they are not, suggests to me that something else is afoot.
Perhaps, just perhaps, Star[big]bucks is reaching the limit of what people are willing to pay for their caffeine indulgences? I reached that cutoff years ago ...
