Starbucks new CEO Brian Niccol to cut back on discounts and coffee promotions
Starbucks’ new boss is putting his stamp on the company by cutting back on discounts and promotions — forcing coffee lovers to pay full price for their drinks.
Chief Executive Brian Niccol, the former Chipotle CEO who was poached by the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain earlier this year, ordered his deputies to quietly reduce the plethora of discounts that were introduced to lure back inflation-weary customers over the course of the last year,
The move comes after Niccol made headlines for reportedly being given the option of working from his Southern Califor☂nia home for most of the week while overseeing the company, whose headquarters is 1,000 milesꦉ away in Seattle.
Starbucks offered a variety of deals ma🃏inly to loyalty-program members as well as buy-one-get-one-free promotions starting in May.
In June, Starbucks launched a special “pairings menu” that included a hot or ic𝓰ed coffee or tea with a croissant for $5.
Customers also ha🍌d the choice of a breakfast sandwich with a coffee or tea for $6. Alternatively, they could have swapped in a Double Smoked Bacon or ๊an Impossible breakfast sandwich for $7.
Last month, Starbuc𓃲ks rolled out an offer for extra loyalty points on Tuesdays and deals𓆉 on several drink purchases on Saturdays.
But while the promotions did help bring back customers, baristas complained that Starbucks stores didn’t have adequate manpower to handle the extra workload — causing excessive wait times for people who pl💦aced an order either through the app or in person.
The Post has sought comment from Starbucks.
Several fast-food giants have rolled out similar value meals. McDonald’s recently announced that it was extending its $5 value meal that included four items — a McChicken or McDouble sandwich, four piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink.
But Starbucks has no plans to introduce any seasonal promotions during the fall and winter holidays. Instead, the company will focus on advertising to boo🐟st awareness of seasonal flavors such as pumpkin spice.
Prior to Niccol’s hiring as CEO, Starbucks’ previous management led by then-boss Laxman Narasimhan introduced the promotions after the company reported disappointing sales results in its quarterly earnings report.
Starbucks’ revenue fell 1% in the April-June period a🐼s customer traffic weakened in the US a♋nd China. The company is due to report earnings for the most recent quarter in early November.
In mid-August, the company announced that Narasimhan would be stepping down effective immediately and th🍨at Niccol 🐷would succeed him.
Starbucks’ global chief merchant and product officer, a position that was specially created by Narasimhan, also left the company. There are no plans to name a replacement for the role, according to The Journal.
