Starbucks will start coffee deliveries in China next month in a partnership with internet heavyweight Alibaba , as the US company looks to protect its lead in a fast-growing coffee market where it is facing tougher competition and a decline in sales.
Alibaba’s food delivery platform Ele.me will begin making deliveries from 150 Starbucks outlets in September, expanding to 2,000 stores by the end of the year. Alibaba will also install Starbucks delivery outlets in its chain of Hema grocery stores.
Starbucks controls 80 per cent of China’s coffee shop market, according to consultancy Euromonitor, and generated $3.24bn of its revenues from Asia-Pacific last year — or about 15 per cent of its global total.