Starbucks shifts strategy to invest in staffing over automation, aiming to enhance customer experience.
From Yahoo Finance: 2025-04-29 20:26:00
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol announced a shift in strategy, opting to invest more in staffing and less in automation. This decision comes after a 1% drop in North American same-store sales for the second quarter, worse than analyst estimates. Margins have shrunk for five consecutive quarters, prompting the move to increase headcount in stores.
Niccol emphasized the importance of additional staffing to enhance the customer experience, a priority since he took over in September. The company will gradually increase headcount in U.S. stores, with 1,500 to 2,000 stores expected to see a boost by May and around 3,000 by year-end. Despite the added costs, Starbucks is banking on growth from these investments.
Starbucks will scale back the deployment of its Siren system, originally intended to streamline drink-making. The system will now only be installed in select stores with high drive-through customer volumes and sales. This decision contrasts with the industry trend towards increased technology investments, as other companies like Chipotle focus on kitchen automation to potentially reduce labor costs.
Read more at Yahoo Finance: Starbucks to beef up store staffing, go slow on automation rollout