The move comes as Seattle-based Starbucks faces a challenge from upstart Chinese company Luckin Coffee, which has expanded aggressively on a strategy based largely on satisfying delivery orders placed by mobile app users. “We truly believe that this enduring partnership will elevate the coffee culture in China,” Starbucks president and CEO Kevin Johnson said at news conference in Shanghai. Under the arrangement, Starbucks products will be dropped off to customers would be handled by Alibaba’s food-delivery unit, Ele.me. Chinese restaurants now fill huge volumes of delivery orders, and many new food-and-beverage outlets are being established solely for deliveries. Until now, however, Starbucks had yet to announce a comprehensive strategy for tapping the mobile market.

Source: The Express Tribune August 02, 2018 06:22 UTC