What changed in Tims pricing and what stays in the contents of coffee orders
Tims China adjusted prices on some products nationwide, and bagels are the clearest example: most went up by about 1 to 2 yuan after the holiday. The company said the change followed a review of operating costs, and that coffee products are not within the price adjustment scope. A Wednesday members' day delivery combo also dropped from several bagel choices to three.
One customer's order records show the same combo rising from 32.9 yuan to 37.9 yuan between March and the recent increase, a 5 yuan jump in under half a year. Bagels have long been the star item in Tims' coffee plus warm food strategy, so the question is whether loyal users accept the higher prices while the drink side of the order stays unchanged.
After the holiday, news of price increases in the consumer sector has been coming one after another, and this time it is Tims China's turn. Many consumers have noticed that the price of the bagels they often order has quietly gone up, some combos have seen two price hikes within half a year, and the bagels available in the Wednesday members' day delivery combo have also been cut from multiple options to three. In response, Tims officially said that pricing for some products has indeed been adjusted nationwide, but coffee products will not increase in price, and the adjustment was made after a comprehensive assessment of operating costs. As a Canadian brand that has established itself in the Chinese market with a "coffee + warm food" strategy, Tims' bagels have always been a star product, and whether this price increase will be accepted by loyal users is worth watching.
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The short holiday has ended, and industries are returning to their normal work rhythms one after another. But after the holiday, the consumer market has been hit by one piece of price-increase news after another—scenic spot tickets, high-speed rail tickets, coffee, milk tea—notifications of price hikes coming one after another have left consumers saying their wallets cannot take it.
Recently, many office workers who are used to buying Tims breakfast early in the morning have noticed that the price of the bagel they usually order has changed. After careful comparison, they realized that the prices of most bagels had been raised, by about 1 to 2 yuan. Running into this kind of news on the first day back to work after the holiday, workers complained one after another that their already tight wallets had been cut again.
Some price-sensitive customers also noticed that this was not Tims' first price increase this year. Some customers posted their recent in-store order records, showing that the same combo went through two price increases from March this year to recently, with the combo price rising all the way from 32.9 yuan to 37.9 yuan, 5 yuan more in less than half a year. This longtime Tims customer admitted that she could barely afford it anymore.
In addition, today some people also noticed that the delivery combo for Tims' Wednesday members' day had also been changed, with only three bagels left to choose from in the combo, which discouraged consumers who had wanted to take advantage of the members' day for a bargain. With some products costing more and combo contents shrinking, this quiet round of price adjustments by Tims has left many loyal users dissatisfied and has also drawn outside attention.
Regarding the matter of "Tims China raising prices on products," a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Agency consulted the brand today. The other party said that pricing for some products had indeed been adjusted nationwide, but coffee drinks were not included in the price adjustment. As for the reason for the adjustment, Tims explained that the company made the decision after comprehensively evaluating multiple factors such as operating costs.
Unlike other chain coffee brands, what consumers remember about Tims is often not the coffee itself, but the warm food sold alongside it, and bagels are especially the store's signature product. In 2022, Tims sold about 9.5 million bagels in total, which shows how popular they are among consumers.
Precisely because of this, Tims pursued a "coffee + warm food" strategy, and this strategic adjustment also brought tangible changes to the brand.
In the middle of last month, Tims released its 2023 annual report. The data showed that Tims' revenue reached 1.576 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 55.9%; adjusted net loss was 434 million yuan, narrowing the loss by 5.45%. At the same time, the "coffee + warm food" combination also made more consumers remember this Canadian coffee brand, and brand awareness and influence both improved significantly.
However, this sudden across-the-board price increase by Tims is bound to hurt some loyal customers. Quite a few consumers have already said that they placed orders precisely because of Tims' bagels. Although the increase is not large at present, the practice of raising prices without giving advance notice makes people feel uncomfortable, and they may not buy again in the future.
But as for the price increase on some products, frontline store employees are not especially resistant. After all, if bagel prices go up, store order volume may decline accordingly, which for them actually makes things a bit easier.
Image source: Internet
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
