Starbucks announced record revenues for its fourth fiscal quarter, which ended October 2, indicating that consumers are unfazed by inflation. The world’s largest coffee company, which runs over 35,000 locations worldwide, reported $8.4 billion in revenue, an increase of 11% over the same quarter last year. This increases the company’s total sales for fiscal 2022 to $32.3 billion, up more than 20% from the $26.5 billion pre-Covid high.
Global comparable store sales, a statistic used by retail chains to gauge performance without considering newly launched sites, climbed by 7% in the most recent quarter, fueled by excellent performances in North America. Lockdowns in China pulled down international performance, resulting in a 16% reduction in comparable store sales in Starbucks’ second-largest market, while the business saw double-digit sales growth in the rest of the globe.
Comparable store sales growth was driven not just by a rise in average ticket/order value (i.e. higher prices), but also by a minor increase in the number of comparable store transactions, notwithstanding the detrimental impact of Covid limitations on store traffic in China. That is, even in the midst of a worldwide cost of living crisis, which should make individuals reconsider their discretionary spending, coffee appears to be a non-negotiable for many customers. It appears that there is always money for Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Chris Giles Snr built his first client website in 1995 and has remained at the leading edge of web development and SEO ever since. He is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM).
