a) Strengths:
i. Strong Market Position and Global Brand Recognition: Currently, the company has about 6,500 stores and has operations in over 29 countries. Starbucks is also the most recognized brand in the coffeehouse segment and brand. Such strong market position and brand recognition allows the company to gain significant competitive advantage in further expanding into international markets and also help register higher growth in both domestic and international markets.
ii. Products of the Highest Quality: They give the highest importance to the quality of their products and avoid standardization of their quality even for higher production output. Strategic Analysis Of Starbucks Corporation iii. Right Location: Starbucks has stores in some of the most prime and strategic location across the globe. They target premium, high-traffic, high-visibility locations near a variety of settings, including downtown and suburban retail centers, office buildings, university campuses, and in select rural and off-highway locations across the world. This has earned them a significant competence and advantage to be able to penetrate prime markets and tap into customers convince factor.
b) Weaknesses:
i. Expensive Products: While Starbucks does differentiate their products with being highly quality couple with the whole ‘Starbucks Experience’, in times of economic sluggishness, consumers to have so switching costs to competitor’s products with lower prices and forgo paying a premium. These premium prices could also pose some weakness for it to succeed in developing countries.. ii. American/European coffee culture clash with that of other countries: Starbucks coffee culture may not widely accepted in some countries as part of their international expansion strategy.
c) Opportunities:
i. Expansion into Emerging Markets: The increase saturation and self-cannibalization of the US market makes its international strategy even more important.