After a brief 'burst' in the coffee market over nearly two years, a quick reshuffle began in 2020.
On September 3, Coffee Box announced through its official WeChat channel that it had received a new round of financing. The original offline business of Coffee Box may be abandoned, and the transfer to retail will become the focus of the company's next efforts. It is another coffee brand that has turned to the retail market after COSTA.
Coffee Box changed from a single channel and partial market coverage to an omnichannel strategy. In addition to the previous WeChat official accounts and mini-programs, the business will be deployed in Tmall, convenience stores, gas stations and other channels. Even the coffee business is no longer limited to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
The new track competitors should not be underestimated, including Nestlé, which has acquired Starbucks retail business, and international brands such as COSTA, backed by Coca-Cola. There are also upstart brands such as Saturn Bird and Nongfu Spring, as well as overseas Internet celebrity brands such as Blue Bottle. Whether Coffee Box can restart successfully remains an uncertainty.
In 2014, Coffee Box was established as a coffee delivery platform with the WeChat official account as the entrance. In August 2015, the company stripped out Starbucks and other third-party coffee delivery services. In April 2016, Coffee Box announced the completion of a Series B financing of CNY 50 million. In March 2018, Coffee Box completed B+ round financing of CNY 158 million. In June 2020, Coffee Box successively withdrew its stores in Beijing, and the company is undergoing operational adjustments.