Starbucks blames long customer wait times for drop in sales

This week, Starbucks Coffee revealed it had a decrease in coffee sales since the beginning of the year, and it blamed long wait times for orders as the reason why customers are choosing other options. 

In an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan said, "We have customers coming to our stores today, or on mobile order pay, who don't fulfill their transaction because of wait times."

"Our team in the US has done a phenomenal job in improving the speed of service but we see more opportunities in doing that," he added. 

According to the Daily Mail, Narasimhan told investors on Tuesday that the company expected to see slower sales to continue through spring and summer. 

In addition to long wait times, the organization highlighted high prices, a decrease in customer spending habits, bad weather, and boycotts resulting from its perceived support for Israel. 

"Performance was impacted by a decline in occasional customers, changing holiday patterns, a high promotional environment, and a normalization of customer behaviors following last year's market reopening," Narasimhan reportedly told investors. 

In a memo from December, the CEO discussed his concern about global issues affecting the organization. "I am concerned about the state of the world we live in," he said. 

"There are conflicts in many parts. It has unleashed violence against the innocent, hate and weaponized speech, and lies — all of which we condemn," Narasimhan continued. "Many of our stores have experienced incidents of vandalism. We see protestors influenced by misrepresentation on social media of what we stand for." 

In October, Starbucks filed a lawsuit against the Starbucks Workers United union for alleged trademark infringement after the union expressed support for the Hamas terrorist group on social media in the days after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. 

Starbucks began receiving complaints about the post from customers vowing to boycott. One post read, "I will never visit Starbucks again. You are supporting Hamas terrorists," "You stand with Hamas, I buy my coffee elsewhere," and "Shame on you supporting Hamas, coffee is about coffee, never going to be your customer again and I have been loyal for years."

Due to the lawsuit, pro-Palestine organizations began a boycott of Starbucks.