Global E-Commerce, Essay Example

“The most likely people to be found lingering at a McCafé sipping coffee are Europeans, Australians and, McDonald’s Corp. hopes, maybe the Japanese.  Although McDonald’s has been testing a handful of the gourmet coffee and snack bars in the U.S. since 2001, the real market is overseas, in 33 countries so far. McCafés are all over Australia, ramping up fast in Germany and just starting in Japan, where McDonald’s has 3,300 restaurants. McDonald’s opened the first 15 McCafés around Tokyo in late August, with menu items including green tea and red-bean shaved ice” (Mussey & Wentz, 2007, p.36).

“They’re going to struggle in the U.S., but they have a great opportunity abroad,” said Darren Tristano, exec VP at Technomic, a food-industry research and consulting firm. “Americans are used to spending small amounts at McDonalds, and getting a 99 cent double cheeseburger and kids’ meals. McCafé raises the bar. That’s a sticking point. It’s difficult to get Americans to spend  more money because that’s not part of their mind-set at McDonald’s.”

In Europe, McCafés can tap into the tradition of stopping for a leisurely, high-quality coffee and Snacks.  McCafé started more than 20 years ago, the brainchild of Charlie Bell, the late McDonald’s president-CEO who opened the first McCafés in his native Australia and took them International when he moved to the U.S” (Mussey & Wentz, 2007, p.36).

Now Australia has more McCafés (406) than any other country, but Germany, with 306, is catching up fast.  “Five hundred McCafés are planned in Germany by 2008, and between 600 and 700 by 2011,” said Gerhard Schoeps, chief marketing officer of McDonald’s in Germany. The company plans to invest, jointly with its franchise partners, $325 million in McCafés this year.  “We target younger clients and the 39-years-plus generation,” Mr. Schoeps said. “We see that clients stay longer in our McCafés. Business is strong mornings and afternoons, times when McDonald’s sales are slow” (Mussey & Wentz, 2007, p.36).

“Starbucks Coffee Company, Seattle, extended coffee consciousness onto the Internet with the launch last week of its long-anticipated Starbucks.com site. The site features not only information about Starbucks coffee and related products, but about the company and its community activities and coffee production in general” (Kuchinskas, 1998, p.62). “Interactive features include a Coffee Taste Matcher to help consumers figure out what coffees they might like, a Gift Matcher which includes customized email reminders of special days and a Store Finder.  The extensive 250-page site took six months to produce. Starbucks’ in- house team worked with Organic, San Francisco, on both creative and development” (Kuchinskas, 1998, p.62).

“We brought in the expertise to translate the brand online appropriately and let the Starbucks team he the stewards of the brand,” said Sara Ortloff, Organic creative director. “The creative framework we used was, ‘the journey and the destination.’ We wanted the Web experience to mirror the experience you have when you go into a store, where you have the destination of  buying some coffee, but you’re also taking some time out from your day” (Kuchinskas, 1998, p.62).

“Cross linking between content areas was designed to encourage less linear navigation. Though the company’s launch of an e–commerce Web site may seem late to some, Heidi Wells, Internet project manager, points out that her company has had a presence, including e–commerce, on America Online, for the past three years” (Kuchinskas, 1998, p.62). “We’ve been out there understanding what our customers want, understanding data from AOL.  Now is the right time for e–commerce,” she said.  Wells said her company has an aggressive schedule for further site development, and that the site will be considerably renewed by the holiday season. She had no estimates for online revenue.  “We just don’t know,” she said. “But $3 billion are supposed to be spent by U.S. consumers on the Web this year, and we’re hoping to get a chunk of it” (Kuchinskas, 1998, p.62).

References

Mussey, D. & Wentz, L. (2007).  Want a quiet cup of coffee in Germany?  Head to McDonald’s. Advertising Age.  78(36), Retrieved April 25, 2010, from Business Source Complete database.

Kuchinskas, S. (1998).  Wake up and sell the coffee: Starbucks unveils e-commerce site. Adweek Eastern Edition.  39(41), Retrieved April 25, 2010, from Business Source Complete database.