Former CEO Howard Schutz weighs in on Starbucks’ poor performance | Wilnesh News

Earlier Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz weighed in on the coffee chain’s dismal latest quarterly report on Sunday, saying he believes the company will recover if it improves its U.S. stores.

Schultz, who no longer has an official role at Starbucks, wrote that the company needs to improve its mobile ordering and payment experience and overhaul how it creates new drinks to focus on the premium products that set it apart.

“Stores need to focus like crazy on the customer experience through the merchant’s lens,” Schultz wrote in a letter released Sunday night. “The answer lies not in the data, but in the store.” LinkedIn.

Starbucks on Tuesday slashed its full-year forecast as an unexpected drop in same-store sales caused the company to miss Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit and revenue. The company’s shares have fallen 17% since the report was released, taking its market value to $82.8 billion.

Analysts were caught off guard by the chain’s poor performance, and they have been looking for reasons why Starbucks’ U.S. traffic dropped 7% this quarter. The chain may still be dealing with the fallout from social media backlash against its stance on the Middle East conflict, BofA Securities analyst Sara Senatore wrote in a research note on Monday.

Schultz, who transformed Starbucks from a small chain into a coffee giant, resigned as CEO more than a year ago. He handed over power to Laxman Narasimhan, who had been chief executive of Lysol owner Reckitt. Schultz also resigned from Starbucks’ board of directors last year.

He appeared to offer advice to his successor as he tried to turn around the chain’s sales.

“Leaders must demonstrate humility and confidence as they work to restore trust and improve performance throughout their organizations,” Schultz wrote.

A year and a half ago, Schultz told CNBC that he did not plan to serve as Starbucks CEO again.