Should Starbucks build its own delivery team
or partner with third-party carriers like Grab/be?
About this question
Category
Product Strategy
Subcategory
Build / Buy / Partner
Difficulty
Easy
Est. time
35 min
What this question helps you practice
This product strategy question tests how you decide between building an internal capability and partnering with third parties. A strong answer should compare customer experience, unit economics, operational complexity, speed to market, control, data ownership, and long-term strategic leverage.
How to practice
Clarify the delivery objective
Define whether Starbucks wants reach, speed, margin, loyalty data, quality control, or brand experience.
Compare strategic options
Evaluate own fleet, third-party partnerships, hybrid models, and phased pilots across cost, control, and complexity.
Recommend a path and metrics
Choose an option by market context and track delivery time, order quality, margin, repeat rate, and customer satisfaction.
Strong answer signals
Recognizes that the best model may vary by market density, order volume, and customer expectations.
Compares near-term speed-to-market with long-term control and economics.
Considers hybrid or phased approaches instead of a binary answer.
Common mistakes
Choosing own delivery only because it gives more control, without checking economics.
Choosing third-party delivery only because it is faster, without considering brand and data trade-offs.
Ignoring operational complexity such as staffing, routing, cold-chain, or service recovery.
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