Author: Mariano Peluso

In China, some market conditions are different. A low number of coffee shops compared to the population, especially in large towns, and the boost in coffee consumption (at two-digits) in particular out of home.

The hot coffee delivery is, therefore, a new opportunity to satisfy the large coffee demand.

At the moment, there is no available data to see if the delivery system will be appreciated by customers, the fact is that the giant coffee chain Starbucks is also moving towards signing a partnership with Alibaba, China’s largest online retailer, to launch delivery services in September. The new deal will see Starbucks integrate a “virtual store” in online shopping and payment apps.
The hot coffee delivery model, launched by the Chinese company Luckin, is fueling the debate among operators: May this new model change coffee habits?

As explained by Qian Zhiya, Luckin Coffee founds its business model starting from some weak points of coffee shops in China: high prices and lack of presence. “In western countries, the price of a cup of coffee consists of only 1/1,000 of people’s monthly income. In contrast, it is almost 1/100 for people living in China”. “Also, the number of coffee shops in the mainland is very limited. As opposed to Taiwan, where the population of 23.5 million enjoys over 5,000 CITY CAFE shops (a brand launched by 7-Eleven), there are only 300 Starbucks stores in Beijing, a city populated with 29 million people”. Find out more about Luckin.