ore sales declined 7 per cent, and consolidated net revenues declined 3 per cent to US$9.1 billion. The company said its results were primarily driven by softness in North America’s revenues in the quarter, specifically a 6 per cent decline in the US comparable store sales.  “I’ve heard from some customers that we’ve drifted from our core, that we’ve made it harder to be a customer than it should be, and that we’ve stopped communicating with them,” said Brian Niccol, who recently succeeded Laxman Narasimhan as the company’s new CEO last September.  “As a result, some are visiting less often and I think today’s results tell that same story,” he said in an announcement, adding the company needs to fundamentally change its recent strategy to be able to improve its performance.  The former Chipotle head said the company’s ‘Back to Starbucks’ plan includes staffing its stores, removing bottlenecks, simplifying the barista menu, and refining its approach to mobile ordering and payment.  The fourth-quarter results mark Starbucks’ third consecutive quarter of falling sales. According to Neil Saunders, MD at GlobalData, Starbucks has been hit by a double whammy of problems.  “The main issue is that consumers are buying less coffee from Starbucks in order to save money. Offering more promotions does not seem to have worked as consumers forgo some coffee occasions or replace them with cheaper alternatives such as having a coffee at home,” Saunders said.  “The other issue which compounds the problem is that Starbucks has gone off track in terms of the added value it is supposed to provide. Its cafes are too busy, lines too long, and too many of them are not pleasant places to linger. That means some people have defected to rivals, including independent chains,” he added.  The expert said while Starbucks is still a huge business, its growth engine has stopped spinning and it will need to review its proposition if it wants to advance, especially in the North American market.  Starbucks’ CFO, Rachel Ruggeri, noted despite its heightened investments, the company was unable to change the trajectory of its traffic decline, resulting in pressures in both its top-line and bottom-line. “While our efficiency efforts continued to produce according to plan, they were not enough to outpace the impact of the decline in traffic,” said Ruggeri. “We are developing a plan to turn around our business, but it will take time.” Starbucks is actively working to attract and retain customers in its home market, but the coffee giant faces significant challenges in China, its second-largest market. The company’s comparable store sales in China dropped 14 per cent during the fourth quarter due to weak consumer spending and fierce competition with local chains such as Luckin Coffee and Cotti Coffee rapidly gaining market share.  The Seattle-based company now finds itself in a position where it must adapt its approach to better compete with these local players and maintain its foothold in the lucrative Chinese coffee market. “In China, we need to understand the potential path to capture growth and capitalise on our strengths in this dynamic market,” said Niccol. “Internationally, we see enormous potential for growth, especially in regions like the Middle East, where we’ll work to dispel misconceptions about our brand, and in Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America, where the love for Starbucks is strong.”