Comparison Between The Business Models Of Starbucks And Tim Hortons

Question: Discuss about the Comparison Between The Business Models Of Starbucks And Tim Hortons. Answer: The essay consists of a comparison between the business models of Starbucks and Tim Hortons, the leading coffee industries of Canada. The comparison has been done on many fields like the marketing strategy of both the companies, the acceptability of both the companies, the promotional strategies of both the companies. Both Starbucks and Tim Hortons are good in different spheres. Both the companies specialize in the food and coffee service industry. While comparing both the companies firstly in the field of distribution, it can be said that Starbucks has undoubtedly more and much wide range of distributors and they lay their focus more on the distribution of fresh food. On the other hand Tim Horton concentrates more on their beverages as well as foods like bread, dry foods and pastries. This is the first and foremost difference between them. Their distribution is different and the ways they are distributed are different (Voigt, Buliga Michl, 2017). The second difference is the license and the partnerships. In this context it can be mentioned that Starbucks uses a lot of licenses and partnerships whereas Tim Hortons relies much on the third party distributors and warehouses. Starbucks is better in this field. This is the reason they are globally spread and they have stores in many parts of the world. The third difference is that both the companies have different marketing strategies. They do the marketing in a different way. Starbucks prefers the technological applications such as for the iphone where a customer can use their mobile phone in order to make their purchases and it is also connected to the loyalty card that there in Starbucks. Apart from this the company uses the social media forum like facebook and online shopping to market their products. This enables the customers to have authentic conversation with the brand. Tim Hortons does not do their marketing so strongly in the social media. This is where the marketing strategy of both the companies differs (Pastoll et al., 2014). The other difference between the two is their place of distribution. Tim Hortons concentrates their distribution more in the eastern Canada. On the other hand Starbucks majorly focuses on the urban areas. In most parts of Canada Tim Hortons occupied a major position but in the global world Starbucks has occupied a good position and it is more famous in the entire world (Richelieu Korai, 2014). The pricing strategy of both the companies is different. Tim Horton can be afforded by the people of all the classes (Richelieu Korai, 2014). It is said that it can be afforded by everyone, from hockey moms to the workers who works in the construction sites. Everybody would be comfortable in ordering in Tim Horton. Starbucks can be labeled under high-rated coffee shops. The price is not convenient for all. They are not kept in convenient store. By analyzing all the executive business models of both the companies this can be mentioned that both the companies have excelled but the business model of Starbucks is more organized and advanced. This is the reason even getting launched after few years of Tim Starbucks made more name in the entire world and made the brand more popular. References Gassmann, O., Frankenberger, K., Csik, M. (2016). Innovation Strategy: From new Products to Business Model Innovation. InBusiness Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell(pp. 81-104). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. Pastoll, C., Rochwerg, T., Vlaar, B., Compeau, D. (2014). Starbucks canada: the mobile payments decision. Richelieu, A., Korai, B. (2014). The consumption experience of Tim Hortons coffee fans.Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal,17(3), 192-208. Voigt, K. I., Buliga, O., Michl, K. (2017). Globalizing Coffee Culture: The Case of Starbucks. InBusiness Model Pioneers(pp. 41-53). Springer, Cham.