Starbucks is taking a page out of competitors' playbooks to woo Chinese customers this summer
Starbucks is serving up cheap drinks in China this summer.
Starting Tuesday, the coffee chain is lowering the prices of more than 20 drinks in its Frappuccino, iced shaken tea, and tea latte product lines, Starbucks representative Kok Kuan Tan told BI. He said the company hasn't determined an end date for the promotion.
The chain said in a Monday post on Chinese social media site Weibo that prices will be brought down to as low as 23 yuan, or about $3.20, for the summer.
Tan said Starbucks' grande drinks in the three lines will get cheaper by an average of 5 yuan. The move aims to offer "more accessible pricing" for a group of "popular non-coffee beverages," he said.
Per checks by BI, the regular price of drinks in the three product lines in China ranges between 29 to 39 yuan. Starbucks had more than 7,700 stores in China as of March.
The price cut comes as Starbucks China grapples with weakened consumer confidence and strong competition from local players.
After the price reduction, Starbucks' offerings are closer in price to those of its biggest Chinese competitor, Luckin Coffee.
Luckin Coffee, which had more than 24,000 outlets in China as of March, serves customers with aggressive discounts year-round. The non-discounted price of iced tea on Luckin Coffee's app was 26 yuan on Tuesday. But it cost 14 yuan after discounts.
Luckin Coffee's iced lattes cost 32 yuan at the regular price and 19 yuan after the discounts.
Starbucks is not the only Western brand betting on cheaper deals to lure Chinese consumers. Pizza Hut saw great success with its $7 pizza offering in China last year, with its sales increasing 50% in 2024 compared to the year before.
Its parent company, Yum China, also reduced the price of 30 popular items in Pizza Hut, starting from 9.9 yuan for drinks and desserts. It introduced Pizza Hut Wow, the chain's budget wing, which serves smaller, cheaper versions of its regular fare.
The summer deals come as Starbucks has seen slowing performance in China. In 2024, sales dropped 2%, to $3.01 billion, from the year earlier.
Starbucks' CEO, Brian Niccol, told Bloomberg in February that the chain was eyeing a major expansion in China.
"Today, we have over 7,000 stores. There will be many more thousands of stores in China in our future," he told Bloomberg.
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