Do you know your Barista?

Barista started as a pioneer in organized food and beverages retailing in India. However, after a highly promising start, it went on to become the largest debacle in Indian retail. After its share of ups and downs, how does Barista stand today, in terms of living up to its vision of a being a quality store providing the ideal coffee drinking experience along with other related products. Retailer decided to carry out an ECE on Pan-India Barista retail stores. Elements of customer experience (ECE) is a mystery survey carried out to capture a business from a customer's perspective. Ritu Marya carried out this exercise, and profiles the company after visits to several stores in the country "Coffee is a beverage that puts you to sleep if you fail to drink it" - Alphonse Allis This is what you would read on the tray mat of a Barista Coffee shop. Undoubtedly, Barista understood its coffee well, when it ignited quality standards as the first organized food and beverages chain in India. However, soon after, it went on to become the largest debacle of Indian retail. Barista has thus travelled over many crests and troughs since its inception in the retail marketplace. Where does Barista stand today, especially regarding the quality experience expected of it by its customer? Retailer conducts an ECE on Pan-India Barista retail stores in this article. ECE (elements of customer experience) is a mystery survey carried out to capture a business from a customer's perspective. The Barista Story Barista is the first example of a modern retail leader. As is true for any pioneer, Barista has undergone its share of disasters and learnt the hard way about the Indian customer's mindset, and geared up in a revival mode. India has a deep-rooted tea culture. However, the Barista brand introduced the new experience of Barista coffees, which led to the 'miracle' of changing this tea-drinking habit into coffee-drinking to quite an extent. Having started in 1999, Barista stores became widespread in no time because of their image of a lifestyle coffee environment, and the quality of the retail experience they offered to the customer. So noticeable was the business growth that Barista got an equity business funding from the Tata's in 2003. But a spread so quick was not so easy to manage. To add to that, things started going wrong with the Tatas' funding, which led to Barista expanding indiscriminately with the purpose of creating shareholder value. Then, people in key positions started quitting the company leading to a further downslide. However, activity slowly picked up by 2004 when Barista did a turnaround and a revamp in store locations and interiors. This step brought back the much needed momentum in business. Barista's current tally is 100 stores located in India, Sri Lanka and the Gulf, which includes Barista espresso bars, shop-in-shops and corner stores. Reality Check: Mystery shopping assessment A retail brand is the summative of customer experiences across all touch-points. Whilst doing a mystery shopping survey four key performance parameters are considered vital to the coffee shop environment, ie, store position, customer relations, store product and marketing and store presentation. Store position From Nariman Point in Mumbai to M.G Road in Bangalore to Banjara Hills in Hyderabad to Knot Place in Delhi and to The Mall in Shimla - wherever you go you are never too far from a Barista café. Barista can perhaps boast of the best real estate locations in India, today, which would include urban neighborhoods, commercial areas, strip malls, and high street shopping areas. The Barista stores are usually surrounded by a very active retail and professional business environments. In our survey we noticed that locations in a mall or high street shopping area were chosen well from the perspective of footfalls, accessibility and high visibility. The Barista electronic signages are simple, attractive and noticeable from a distance. Public transport is well accessible from most stores and parking is good. ATMs are usually never to far from Barista Stores. Customer relations The most important job of Barista is to excite and educate customers. This was mostly not visible at the Barista coffee stores. Though well dressed and tidy, the Barista staff were not carrying name tags. No attempts were made to acknowledge or greet customers who had entered in the stores, nor while placing the order at the purchase counter. Though all the stores were adequately staffed, the latter seemed to have their own set of priorities. Most staff was found arranging the tables and chairs in proper array instead of clearing the tables. While placing the order, the Barista staff member's expression was more inquisitive than friendly, though he had good knowledge of the product and did the suggestive selling of complimentary products in a very refined fashion. He clearly repeated our order and handled the monetary transaction very efficiently while thanking us for the same. Barista coffee stores do not have table service, and it is customary for staff to announce your name when the order is ready. However, if the order were too large for a person to carry, or if by the second name call no one came to collect it from the counter, Barista staff were courteous enough to bring the order to the table. Barista do a good brew, but in some stores the coffee seems to take forever to arrive. Most customers, we found, lingered for a long time at the store, and Barista made no effort to entice re-ordering. There was a general lack of enthusiasm amongst the staff. On asking a staff member at the Barista café as to what a display in the store meant, he replied he had no idea. Though staff attitude was adequate to sell the product, the sale was driven more by the enquiries of the customer rather than the skills of the staff. There was no farewell note at the time when a customer was leaving. In a nutshell, the Barista outlet requires sprucing up with regard to customer care. Also, it needs to raise awareness about coffee, something that would lead to more informed consumers wanting quality products. Store presentation The Barista Coffee shop has the potential to be a third place (outside of home and office) because of its comfortable surroundings. It can be an ideal place for people to work, meet, relax, or simply enjoy conversation. During our survey we found that most Barista Coffee stores were quite spacious and the store layout made it easy for customers to move around. The sitting arrangements were good. While some stores had comfortable couches, sofa chairs, others had contemporary tables and chairs, or both. In some locations where the weather was favourable, there was outdoor sitting as well. The lighting was warm, and interestingly, we found that in-store lighting increased in proportion to the fading light outside. The store fit-outs were of good quality, the cooling was just right in the stores, however, some loose wiring in the stores spoilt the otherwise perfect picture. The colours in Barista stores, largely orange with hints of blue, have been used adeptly by the interior designers. The floor tiles also looked neat, though in some stores the litter on the floor was not picked up. The music in the background was a tad bit loud, but the choice of music suited the environment. The World Space radio with headphones (in most cafes) allows the café bar clientele to pick the music they want to hear. The washrooms are neither great nor bad but acceptable. The store, and staff room only partially visible, were reasonably tidy. The purchase counter albeit was a bit untidy. In some stores we noticed corner book stores within the Barista coffee shops. Most customers browsed through the books while waiting for their order. However, a larger value could be passed on to the customer, should he get to browse while having coffee. The physical facilities at the store included Hutch mobile charging points and free wireless Internet, making it easy for anyone with a laptop to get some work done. Barista stores seem to be wholly aware that people come there as much for the environment as they do for the coffee. Store product and marketing Walking into a Barista coffee shop, one often gets the aroma of fresh roasted coffee. The food and beverage menu is well developed with a customary selection of espresso-based drinks, frappes, drip brews, frozen and iced drinks, seasonal fruit shakes, bakery items and desserts, high quality teas and sodas. Undoubtedly, Barista offers a broad range of beverages and snacks. The expanded product version includes coffee mugs, coffee beans, candles, stuff toys, etc. The pricing of Barista products is fair though some products are bit on the higher side. The in-store decoration is very 'coffee-oriented.' Displays and all the merchandise alongside the cutlery used for serving customers assure you that the people behind Barista are passionate about their coffee. Most Barista outlets, particularly spacious ones, had striking cabinet displays making products conducive to purchase. The customer routing was adequate in most stores with merchandise placed on the walkways. But some stores were cramped and cabinet displays only added to the clutter. However, the specials were attractively displayed on the purchase counter. Most outlets, in terms of store promotions and window advertising, were not up to the mark with regard to positioning. The text size which was not visible from the seating area, However, some signages like No smoking, No Outside Food, Ask for Sugar-free Coffee, Mind Your Belongings, were helpful tips for customers. Barista stores know that coffee-drinking is an experience; and this concept is central to their marketing strategy! Overall assessment Delivery of a good customer experience depends on more than just the packaging and the promise on the outside; instead, it's what the product or service actually delivers to the customer, that matters. Though Barista has largely been able to address one of the biggest challenges of any food and beverage brand, that is, of maintaining their original vision of product quality, we still found traces of quality variations amongst the stores. For any retail chain it is important to realise that the collective strength of the brand is as good as delivery of each outlet.