Starbucks’ digital menu board promotes its “Good Afternoon” drinks, highlighting the company’s efforts to increase afternoon traffic as part of its turnaround strategy.
Provided by: Starbucks
Afternoon traffic is becoming a bigger growth engine starbucksand the company announced Thursday that it is moving deeper into key parts of CEO Brian Nicol’s turnaround strategy.
The coffee giant is seeing more customers visiting its U.S. stores after 2 p.m., with the biggest growth times coming between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., according to data shared exclusively with CNBC. The target period is 90 days from February 15th to May 16th.
That’s an encouraging sign for Starbucks, which is working to drive more consistent traffic beyond the morning coffee rush. Starbucks is targeting both repeat visits and extended stays throughout the day as Nicol tries to return the chain to steady growth.
“Customers are increasingly stopping by later in the day to rest, refresh, or just spend a few minutes at a coffee house,” said Erin Silvoi, senior vice president of global marketing and channel development.
“Morning continues to be a strong foundation for Starbucks, and what’s new is the addition of more opportunities, more ways to visit and more reasons to visit throughout the day,” Silvoi said.
Starbucks said in a blog post last month that it generated $11 billion in sales after 11 a.m. in the U.S. in 2025.
A major contributor is Starbucks’ Refreshers platform, which executives say is now the company’s second-best-selling beverage category after espresso.
The afternoon’s momentum adds to the signs that Nicol’s early rebuilding efforts are starting to gain momentum. Starbucks recently reported better-than-expected quarterly profits, reassuring investors who have been closely monitoring traffic trends, pricing and operational improvements under new management. The chain’s traffic increased for the second consecutive quarter.
As of market close on Wednesday, the stock had risen 21% since the beginning of the year.
Mr. Nicol argues that Starbucks has historically underperformed daytime fast food and beverage competitors, and has repeatedly pointed to the afternoon as a big opportunity for the chain.
At an earnings conference in January, Nicol said the “expansion of the afternoon hours” would be a “major positive factor” for the company.
“I think there’s a great opportunity to further free up the afternoon slot by offering drinks that are more relevant to how people want to reset their day,” Nicol said at the time.
“Daypart” is an industry term for a break in the day that allows businesses to attract different audiences at different times.
The battle for the afternoon consumer is heating up, with competitors targeting the post-lunch time period. dutch brothers Dunkin’ has recently highlighted the strong momentum of energy drinks and cold drinks in the afternoon hours, and Dunkin’ is also expanding its innovative beverage and snack offerings to target afternoon customers.
TD Cowen analyst Andrew Charles said new products will be a key part of Starbucks’ strategy to acquire more customers over that period.
“We expect menu innovation, marketing and digital menu boards to help drive afternoon ticket and traffic growth, supported by operational improvements to keep Starbucks top of mind during coffee breaks,” Charles said.
Earlier this month, TD Cowen upgraded Starbucks from buy to hold and raised its price target to $120 from $106. The stock is currently trading around $102.
For Starbucks, the latest traffic trends suggest its efforts to become an all-day drinks and food destination may be starting to resonate with customers and investors.
