Estimated daily sales on June 22 reached 2.12 billion won, down 35% from a month earlier; new product sales resumed June 23 as apology notice removed from stores

A Starbucks store in Seoul is closed during the afternoon on June 22. [Herald DB]
A Starbucks store in Seoul is closed during the afternoon on June 22. [Herald DB]

Starbucks Korea's estimated credit and debit card sales fell by more than 1.1 billion won ($712,000) compared to a month earlier on June 22, when the company closed all its stores early to conduct a companywide history-awareness training session for all employees.

According to data from IGAWorks MobileIndex released Saturday, estimated daily credit and debit card spending at Starbucks on June 22 — the day of the early closure — came to 2.12 billion won.

That figure is about 1.14 billion won, or 35 percent, lower than the 3.26 billion won recorded on May 22, shortly after the "Tank Day" controversy erupted. Compared with June 15, when sales stood at 2.99 billion won, the drop was about 870 million won, or 29.1 percent.

The sharp decline is attributed to Starbucks suspending operations for roughly seven hours that day for in-store staff training, despite the chain normally operating until 10 p.m.

The company chose to sacrifice roughly 30 percent of a day's revenue in favor of rebuilding customer trust. The estimated figures are based on domestic card transactions and exclude corporate account transfers, business-to-business payments, cash, gift certificates, and in-app payments through mobile payment services.

Starbucks shut all of its stores nationwide simultaneously at 3 p.m. on June 22, saying it was taking full responsibility for the "Tank Day" marketing controversy that arose last month and conducting training to strengthen employees' historical awareness and social sensitivity.

After the early closure, Starbucks partners — the company's term for its employees — watched a training video provided by headquarters on monitors supplied to each store. Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin, whose conglomerate owns Starbucks Korea, also watched the same training video with affiliate chief executives ahead of a presidents' meeting on June 24, according to reports.

Starting June 23, Starbucks resumed sales of new summer beverages, food items and merchandise — its first new product launches in roughly a month after it suspended all marketing activities following the controversy.

Also on June 23, the company stopped displaying its "Tank Day" apology notice in stores. However, the apology remains posted on the Starbucks app and the company's website.

Meanwhile, Starbucks' recovery in estimated card sales and app installations remains sluggish.

MobileIndex data show that estimated credit and debit card spending at Starbucks for the week of June 15–21 totaled 22.78 billion won, just 0.1 percent above the previous week's 22.76 billion won. Compared with the first week of June, sales were down about 5.9 percent.

New installations of the Starbucks app also fell, coming in at 22,783 for the week — down 5,701, or 20 percent, from the 28,484 recorded during the June 8–14 period.


korean@heraldcorp.com