STARBUCKS AND SECOND CUP GRIND IT OUT FOR TOP CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE HONOURS

STARBUCKS AND SECOND CUP GRIND IT OUT FOR TOP CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE HONOURS

TORONTO, ON --- February 10, 2009 --- Second Cup is running neck-and-neck with Starbucks in customer experience, according to the most recent Corbin Customer Experience Audit conducted by CorbinPartners Inc. in January, 2009. In third place was Country Style, which placed ahead of Timothy’s World Coffee in customer service. Timothy’s and Coffee Time tied for fourth place, while Tim Hortons ranked the lowest among the six major brands.


The Corbin Customer Experience Audit is based on “mystery shopping,” sending customers into 10 different locations of Canada’s most well-known coffeehouse companies at two different times of day - the busy morning period and the laid-back afternoon period. Each location was scored on objective criteria within five staff-controlled categories: service promptness, employee courtesy, employee accuracy, store cleanliness and product availability.

“The Customer Experience Audit is the most statistically reliable measurement tool in the coffeehouse scene today,” said Dr. Ruth Corbin, CEO of CorbinPartners. “It incorporates the industry’s best practices for mystery shopping. You can trust these results.”

Second Cup soared above every other brand in promptness, taking only 1 to 2 minutes from the time the customer walked in the door, to delivery of a brewed coffee and a donut. Country Style was also very efficient in service time. Starbucks came up first in the courtesy category - boosted by their employees’ proactive style of initiating conversation with customers (For example: “I love your coat” or: “We finally got some sunshine today, eh?”). Timothy’s World Coffee scored the highest for store cleanliness - including cleanest floors, tables and bathrooms.

Tim Hortons scored no higher than fourth in every single category and was last in cleanliness and employee courtesy.

About CorbinPartners Inc.
CorbinPartners Inc (www.corbinpartners.com) is an established provider of corporate business intelligence, statistical measurement and forensic market research. It conducts customer experience audits in many retail areas, including coffee, house wares, cosmetics, cell phones and clothing.

For an interview on this audit, or to purchase a report of detailed findings and methodology, please contact Sarah Carnegie at CorbinPartners Inc. at: 416-413-7600.

For media interviews please contact: Sarah Thompson, PUNCH Canada, 647-837-1266, sarah@punchcanada.com