Starbucks Forgot the Power of Hospitality. Here’s How It Plans to Reclaim It

When a customer retrieves a drink from a shelf in silence, the visit may be efficient but it’s no longer much of an experience.

EXPERT OPINION BY MICAH SOLOMON, THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EXPERT @MICAHSOLOMON

Don’t get me wrong. I love Starbucks. It’s a great corporate citizen here in Seattle and a true exemplar, most of the time, for how to treat employees as well as customers. 

For years, Starbucks understood something many companies miss: customers, and particularly customers willing to pay a premium, don’t just buy products. They make their purchasing decisions based on how a company makes them feel. 

Starbucks built its reputation, and the expensive prices it was soon able to charge, on making a coffee purchase feel like something more than a transaction. Borrowing the work of sociologist Ray Oldenburg, former CEO Howard Schultz was vocal about his intention to build Starbucks into a “third place.” These are precious or familiar spots that are not home nor work, but somewhere comfortably in between. 

Baristas wrote customers’ names on cups with a Sharpie, sometimes dramatically misspelling them, which most people found more endearing than annoying. Regulars were recognized. Customers, new and repeat, were welcomed and encouraged to do something more than simply buy a drink. It quickly became the norm to linger with a laptop or use Starbucks as a destination for meeting friends. 

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That was then. That’s the high watermark that the experience has devolved from, in some ways, since. 

The rise of the transactional cup 

Like many successful companies, Starbucks leaned heavily into technology as it scaled. Mobile ordering grew. Cold, unmanned pickup shelves appeared. Drinks began lining the counter with generic-looking printed labels attached instead of whimsical handwriting.  

In many stores today, the experience works like this: You order on your phone, walk in, and grab your drink from the shelf. You accomplish all this and leave without speaking to anyone. 

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