BEIJING: Starbucks plans to increase its store numbers by 50% to 9,000 stores by 2025 in China - its second-largest market - as well as double its sales and quadruple its operating income.

This will be achieved through efforts including store expansion, growth in omnichannel engagement and at-home and on-the-go coffee services.

It is part of the world’s leading coffee house chain’s Reinvention Plan, which was unveiled during the company’s biennial Investor Day conference.

The coffee chain operator, which has been outnumbered by homegrown brand Luckin Coffee this year, has grown nearly 10-fold in the past decade on the Chinese mainland, on track to reach its goal of 6,000 stores by the end of this year.

Starbucks expects to continue robust store development in China, with net unit growth of about 13% annually.

By 2025, the company is expected to open a new store every nine hours to add 3,000 new stores in 300 cities in the country, said Belinda Wong, chairwoman of Starbucks China, during the conference.

In first and second-tier cities, Starbucks China is going to optimise its store portfolio and density in key trade zones.

For example, at its reserve stores, Starbucks China is expected to elevate its connections with communities through smarter omnichannel services and operate about 2,500 green stores.

The company aims to grow its registered members to 170 million by 2025 from its current 85 million. Delivering locally tailored coffee innovations is key to the implementation of the plan, according to the company.

In the next three years, Starbucks China is investing US$220mil in launching its digital technology innovation centre in the country to further facilitate its digitalisation of store operations and in-house technology and data infrastructure.

Jason Yu, general manager of Kantar Worldpanel China, said Starbucks’ investment plan and its commitment to the Chinese market have shown strong confidence in the coffee sector.

“The efforts to further expand their footprint into lower-tier cities as well as to increase density in top-tier cities will continue to popularise coffee culture in the tea-drinking nation,” Yu said.

More meaningful are Starbucks’ attempts to diversify and optimise its store formats to make them more relevant and convenient for consumers, improving store efficiency.

“Starbucks still has competence in its all-round store portfolios, distribution channels and coffee memberships to help generate more revenue.

 - China Daily