Starbucks China Revenue Fell 20% in Q3, Same-Store Sales Down 16%

This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on November 3, 2022.

FoodBud reported that Starbucks released results on November 4 for the quarter ended October 2, 2022, corresponding to Starbucks' fiscal 2022 fourth quarter, alongside full-year fiscal 2022 results.

Key Q3 Figures

• Quarterly revenue was $8.4 billion, up 3% year over year.
• Global comparable-store sales rose 7%, mainly driven by an 8% increase in average ticket.
• North America and U.S. comparable-store sales rose 11%, driven by a 10% increase in average ticket and a 1% increase in transactions.
• International comparable-store sales declined 5%.
• China comparable-store sales declined 16%, mainly due to a 17% drop in transactions, partly offset by a 1% increase in average ticket.

As of October 2, the U.S. and China together accounted for 61% of Starbucks' store base. Starbucks had 15,878 stores in the U.S. and 6,021 stores in China, with 35,711 stores globally.

China Performance

For fiscal 2022 overall, Starbucks' comparable-store sales in China declined 24%, mainly due to a 22% decline in transactions and a 3% decline in average ticket.

Starbucks China's revenue in the quarter was $780 million, down 20% year over year. Full-year global revenue was $32.3 billion, up 11%.

Management Commentary

Founder Howard Schultz said Starbucks China's performance was closely tied to COVID-related controls. In the prior weeks, restrictions in China had tightened again, affecting store transaction volumes. He said COVID-related uncertainty was expected to continue, while emphasizing that confidence in the China market had not weakened and that recovery would be nonlinear.

In the U.S., cold beverages accounted for 76% of sales, which helps explain why Starbucks' reinvention plan emphasized system upgrades and efficiency improvements around cold beverage products.

Starbucks China had more than 17 million rewards members in the quarter, up 29%. Mobile channels accounted for 44% of sales, while delivery grew 35% year over year and represented more than 24% of sales.

In the U.S., 90-day active membership reached 29 million, up 16% year over year. More than 60% of beverage sales were customized, a factor Starbucks described as important for customer loyalty.

China Strategy

Starbucks China's chair outlined three priorities for the market: increasing store density in existing cities, entering cities where Starbucks had not yet opened stores, and improving business expansion efficiency, including using data analytics to improve store-site selection.

She also referenced the company's environmental agenda, including a target to open 2,500 green stores by 2025.

Analysts asked several questions about China during the earnings call, mainly because recovery remained hard to predict under COVID-related controls.

Note: forward-looking and target figures are historical references from Starbucks' 2022 reporting period.