Starbucks and Ele.me supposedly teaming up to offer delivery

Photograph: Szymon Jarocki via Unsplash

There have been a few ambitious crossover events in recent times: Avengers: Infinity War; that episode of Family Guy where they ended up in Springfield; your mum and WeChat. Well, now, get set for another as it's looking like Starbucks and Ele.me will be teaming up to offer waimai coffee orders.

According to SCMP, Alibaba's delivery service will soon be joining forces with the international coffee giant to deliver coffee straight to your door. Despite no comment coming yet from either Ele.me or Starbucks, Chinese business news publication Caijing broke the news on the venture.

The move may come as a result of the competition coming from on-demand service from Luckin Coffee, as well as a recent decline in sales, with a two percent drop in store sales reported in the most recent quarter – all this despite the roaring success of Shanghai's Starbucks Reserve Roastery.

While there has been no official confirmation of when or if this will actually happen, it looks like Starbucks are determined to dominate the Chinese market, with plans to open 3,000 more stores on the Mainland by 2022, as well as their pet-friendly store ambitions.

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