Briefing: Starbucks to expand delivery service to 9 other cities in China

星巴克专星送(TM)上线“足月” – PR Newswire

What happened: Starbucks will officially bring its delivery service Starbucks Delivers (专星送) in 9 other cities in China including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Nanjing, Wuhan, Ningbo, and Suzhou next week (October 22). Starbucks also announced that Starbucks Delivery Kitchens (外送星厨) is now in trial run in Shanghai and Hangzhou. The delivery kitchen inside Hema supermarkets will enable Starbucks to boost its delivery capabilities and speed. Starbuck had no formal online delivery in China prior to Starbucks Delivers, which was launched a month ago.

Why it’s important: In August, Starbucks announced its partnership with Alibaba and new plans to collaborate with Alibaba-owned delivery platform Ele.me, supermarket chain Hema, online retail platform Tmall and Taobao. The coffee giant hoped to tap into China’s booming on-demand delivery market and compete with a slew of fast-rising competitors like Luckin Coffee with the strategic partnership.

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