Wake up and smell the coffee: Innovation in the coffee shop experience

Coffee shops are rich in experience, even if their explicit functions seems to be the provision of consumables. It has been common to ascribe business model innovation to the international coffee shop chains that have helped spread coffee culture to East Asian countries. This chapter examines coffee shops in two of these countries (Thailand and Taiwan). It finds much innovative effort underway, centred not only on the food and beverages supplied, but also on other elements shaping consumer experience – such as decor, location of activities and arrangement of devices, and the roles assigned to staff. High levels of innovation, of many forms, appear in both large chains and smaller shops; even the most traditional venues are balancing their maintenance of heritage with the introduction of novelty. Since many experience industries are also likely to display substantial innovation, and researchers should look beyond the narrow categories that have been the focus of most innovation studies.