Starbucks, between October and December, said something like $3 billion of value is loaded onto these cards.

星巴克表示，在 10 至 12 月間，已經有約 30 億美元的價值被儲值到這些卡片中。

I mean, that's a lot of money.

我是說，那是一大筆錢。

So much money, in fact, that if Starbucks was a bank, it would rank as the 385th biggest in the country.

事實上，這筆金額量大到如果星巴克是一間銀行，它會名列全國第 385 大。

And it's money that Starbucks gets to use upfront as revenue before a single product is even purchased.

而且這些金錢是在單一產品被購買前，就可以讓星巴克以預收收入使用的。

Eventually, it is a liability if someone chooses to use it, and you will find that in lots of gift card programs, they're plenty of people who never use it.

最終，如果有人選擇使用它，它就是一種給予商品的責任，而你會發現在許多禮物卡中，有很多人是從來不會使用它的。

So, how important is Starbucks' mobile app and gift cards to its bottomline?

那麼，星巴克的手機應用程式和禮物卡對於其盈虧到底有多重要？

And what role does technology play in its continued evolution?

而在其持續演變的過程中，科技又發揮了什麼作用？

This is the Economics of Starbucks.

本集節目是《星巴克的經濟學》。

In 1971, the first Starbucks, a small unassuming cafe, opened in Seattle's downtown.

1971 年，第一間星巴克還是不起眼的小咖啡館，在西雅圖的市中心開業了。

Fast forward 50 years, and that store is still in operation, but Starbucks is a global coffee giant.

快轉 50 年，那間店仍然在營運，但星巴克卻變成了全球咖啡巨頭。

Only McDonald's is bigger than Starbucks when it comes to market caps, so, they are really a powerhouse when it comes to, really, the whole restaurant industry.

從市值來看，只有麥當勞勝出星巴克，所以對於整個餐飲業而言，它是一個真正的強權。

In its early years of operation, Starbucks expanded slowly and only within Seattle.

在星巴克運營前幾年，它的擴張速度很慢，而且只在西雅圖境內。

It wasn't until 1987 when the original owners sold the company to its then marketing director, Howard Schultz, that the Starbucks that we know today took root.

直到 1987 年創店人把公司賣給當時的行銷總監 Howard Schultz 時，我們今日所知的星巴克才開始紮根。

Schultz began expanding Starbucks outside of the city and introduced Americans to what was then a little known Italian drink, the espresso.

Schultz 開始將星巴克擴展到西雅圖以外的地區，並向美國人介紹了當時鮮為人知的義大利飲品——濃縮咖啡。

They were really founded on this coffee house culture that they make each beverage by hand, according to order.

他們的咖啡廳文化建立在根據點餐內容、親手製作每一項飲品。

As Starbucks has grown, that has gotten more complicated.

隨著星巴克的發展，一切變得更加複雜。

Today, Starbucks says they make more than 170,000 different varieties of drinks.

星巴克表示，截至今日，他們已經製作了超過 170,000 種不同的飲料。

These beverages can be very complex; they can take a while.

這些飲料可能非常複雜、製作時間稍長。

They can take many different ingredients.

它們會包含許多不同的成分。

And, so, it's good for Starbucks.

所以，這對星巴克來說是好事。

And that these tend to be higher-price beverages, but for workers, the baristas, it can be very complicated.

而且這些往往是價格較高的飲料，但對於擔任咖啡師的員工來說，這些飲品可能非常複雜。

The company's early investment in espresso has transformed to many different signature drinks, from the creation of the frappucino to the launch of the pumpkin spice latte.

該公司早期所投資的濃縮咖啡已經轉變為許多不同的招牌飲料，從星冰樂的誕生開始再到南瓜風味那堤的推出。

Pumpkin spice latte, high five it.

為南瓜風味那堤擊個掌吧！

They really didn't know that it would take off like it did, but clearly, it has formed quite a phenomenon all around the world, really.

他們當時完全沒有意料到之後的事業起飛，但很顯然地它在全球掀起了一個新的現象。

We introduced pumpkin to spice. Us. Here. Starbucks.

我們把南瓜與香料結合。我們，這裡，星巴克。

One additional thing in Starbucks' evolution is cold beverages have become much more important to the company, whether it's just an iced coffee or a nitro iced coffee, or all these cold foam and cold brewed.

在星巴克發展過程中的另一件事是，冷飲對公司來說變得更加重要，無論只是冰咖啡還是氮氣冷萃咖啡，還是所有這些冰奶泡和冰冷萃咖啡。

Increasingly, this is so important to their revenue, the company has gone through periods where frappuccino sales have softened, but they've come up with more cold drinks to keep people interested and keep people ordering.

漸漸地，冷飲已經是星巴克收益的重要來源，儘管已經歷過星冰樂的銷售疲軟時期，但星巴克還是不斷推出更多冷飲來維持人們對該產品的興趣並讓人們能夠持續點購。

In part due to the company's Seattle founding, technology has played a large role in the chain's dominance.

某一部分，由於該公司在西雅圖的成立，科技對於這家連鎖企業的主導地位方面發揮了很大作用。

A key moment of that was the founding of its mobile app in 2009, which was very early for one of these kinds of apps.

而在這之中，一個關鍵時刻是其在 2009 年創建的手機應用程式，在當時此類型的應用程式並不多見。

And they really saw this as a digital flywheel.

而且他們也真的把這看作是一個數位飛輪。

At the end of 2021, mobile orders accounted for nearly a quarter of all Starbucks transactions in the US.

在 2021 年底，手機訂單佔美國所有星巴克交易的近四分之一。

Many of those purchased through a virtual Starbucks gift card, which was previously the only way a customer could order on their phone.

其中許多人用虛擬的星巴克禮物卡來購買， 這也是以前顧客唯一可以在他們的手機上訂購的方法。

Today, a little under one-half, or 44%, of all transactions at Starbucks are done with a Starbucks card.

今天，在所有的交易中，稍小於一半，或 44% 在星巴克的交易是通過星巴克隨行卡完成的。

In fact, so many Starbucks customers use a Starbucks card or the Starbucks mobile app to purchase items that Starbucks says it holds about $2.4 billion in cash that was uploaded by customers to be used later.

事實上，有相當多的星巴客顧客使用隨行卡或手機應用程式來購買商品， 因此星巴克稱其約持有 24 億美元現金，這些是由顧客儲值以便日後使用的。

That number exceeds the deposits at many American banks.

這個數字超過了許多美國銀行的存款。

Starbucks also gets a lot of data from that.

星巴克也從中獲得了大量的數據。

They own a lot of that data in a way that many companies don't

他們擁有許多其它公司所沒有的大量數據。

because they have created this whole ecosystem where people are, you know, using the Starbucks app, they're mobile ordering, and they're hooked into that Starbucks unique proprietary system.

因為他們已經創造了整個產品的生態系統，人們使用星巴克的應用程式，透過手機訂購，並且他們已經習慣了星巴克獨有的專用系統。

As mobile payments rise, Starbucks' business priorities have shifted.

隨著行動支付的興起，星巴克的優先商業業務已經轉變。

Prior to the pandemic, approximately 80% of US Starbucks transactions were on-the-go, either as drive-thru or mobile order.

在新冠疫情前，美國大約 80% 的星巴克交易都是外帶訂購，無論是得來速還是手機訂購。

Starbucks started in cities, but, really, has spread all around the country, including the suburbs, and a lot of that is through drive-thrus.

星巴克始於城市，但實際上已經遍布全國，包括郊區，其中很多是通過得來速。

These alternate pick-up options are becoming increasingly important to the company's bottom line.

這些可供的外帶選項對公司的盈虧越來越重要。

Especially during the pandemic.

特別是在新冠疫情期間。

I mean, these stores have been a lifeline to Starbucks because they kept running and people could easily queue up and go and not have to enter an actual café.

我的意思是，這些商店一直是星巴克的命脈，因為他們一直在不斷運轉，讓人們可以容易地排隊而不必真正進入咖啡廳中。

Starbucks has long said that it remains committed to a set of values established early in the company's existence.

長期以來，星巴克都表示它仍然忠於公司在成立之初就建立的一套價值觀。

Starbucks is very committed to trying to create a connection between its baristas and its customers, even in its drive-thru.

星巴克非常致力於努力創造其咖啡師和顧客之間的聯結，就算是在得來速也是如此。

They talk about this on earnings calls that there are these customer connection scores; they want to make sure that everyone is feeling good about their Starbucks experience,

他們會在季度電話會議上討論顧客滿意度分數；他們想確保每位顧客在星巴克都有良好的購物體驗。

which is getting increasingly challenging when you're ordering through a drive-thru or a mobile app, you're trying to get in and out.

而這變得越來越有挑戰性，因為當你通過得來速或手機應用程式時，訂購是非常快速的。

Starbucks says those values also appear in the manner in which their stores are designed.

星巴克表示這些價值也出現在其設計商店的方式中。

The items you will find in the store, they really choreograph that down to where the basket of water is placed into a store.

商品在店裡的位置他們都統一設計過，包含裝礦泉水的籃子該如何在店內擺放。

They want this all to feel very similar.

他們希望每一家店給顧客的感覺都是非常相似的。

Starbucks has long touted its internal culture, which it says is built on a strong relationship between management and employees.

星巴克長期以來一直吹捧其內部文化，稱其建立在管理層和僱員之間的牢固關係上。

The workers at its stores are not called workers or baristas, they are called partners, and this is very central to the company's ideology.

他們不稱商店中的工作人員為員工或咖啡師，而稱他們為合作伙伴，而這是該公司意識形態的核心。

Part of that is that all these partners do get shares in the company, it's called Beanstalk.

部分原因是，所有這些合作伙伴都能真正得到該公司的股份，這個股份叫 Beanstalk。

That relationship may look different going forward for some Starbucks locations after two of three Buffalo stores voted in favor of unionization.

在水牛城三家商店中的兩家投票贊成成立工會後， 這種關係今後對於一些星巴克門店而言可能會有所不同。

Since then, Starbucks has thrown [a] huge amount of energy and resources into this issue.

從那時起，星巴克就在這個問題上花費了大量的精力和資源。

And executives have traveled to Buffalo extensively to meet with workers, to try to understand their concerns correlating to the company.

而高管們已經多次前往水牛城和員工們面談，試圖瞭解他們對於公司的顧慮。

They want to maintain this direct relationship with their workers.

他們希望保持和員工間的直接聯繫。

They call unions an intermediary; they do not want that relationship to be severed.

他們將工會稱為中介；他們不希望這種直接關係被切斷。

But according to these workers⏤they who support the union⏤they want a more direct relationship with the company.

但據這些支持工會的員工所說，他們希望與公司有更直接的關係。

In a statement to the "Wall Street Journal", Starbucks said, "Starbucks' success⏤past, present, and future⏤is built on how we partner together, always with our mission and values at our core."

在給 「華爾街日報 」的一份聲明中，星巴克說：「星巴克的成功，在過去、現在和未來，是建立在我們如何和員工合作的基礎上，而我們始終視我們的使命和價值觀為核心。」

"From the beginning, we've been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us at Starbucks, and that conviction has not changed."

「從一開始，我們一直堅信我們的信念，我們作為合作伙伴在一起會更有優勢，而這之間沒有工會的介入，我們一直深深確信這點。」

They are the world's biggest coffee chain.

他們是世界上最大的咖啡連鎖店。

They are very dominant when it comes to coffee sales.

在咖啡銷售方面，他們非常有優勢。

And they are, really, synonymous with the coffee house culture in a lot of ways, but they do face increasing pressures.

在很多方面，他們確實是咖啡館文化的代名詞 ，但他們也確實面臨著越來越大的壓力。