Starbucks finally tackles high prices - but it won't fix an even bigger bugbear for customers

Starbucks is finally tackling one of its customers top bugbears - but experts are warning that it is unlikely to lure back lapsed patrons on its own. 

After largely avoiding discount offers for decades, the coffee chain is now running an increasing number of promotions and special deals. 

Starbucks offered promotions for about half of the month of May, The Wall Street Journal reported, and began selling bundles of coffee and breakfast food starting at $5 this month for the first time in more than 10 years. 

It is good news for customers who have long complained about soaring prices at the chain - which can amount to as much as $10 for a single iced coffee with extra syrups and foams. 

But retail experts warn that the company is also facing other issues, with long wait times being one of the biggest problems among consumers. 

'Value for money has become a more significant factor for many consumers, so Starbucks is right to try to offer more value,' Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, told DailyMail.com.    

'However, the reason foot traffic is down at Starbucks' stores is not simply down to high prices. 

'There are gripes about wait times, the standard of service, and the ambience of cafes. To many, Starbucks feels somewhat less special than it once did.'

Lowering prices and offering deals does not solve these problems, he added.   

'It's basically an attempt to paper over the cracks.'

Starbucks had a disastrous start to the year - with tens of millions of customers heading instead to rivals or staying at home. 

The company reported a fall in sales in May for the first time in nearly three years. 

Multiple factors were to blame, including a pro-Palestine boycott of the company and surging inflation spurring Americans to cut down on spending. 

But slow service, in particular, was highlighted by the company's CEO. 

Laxman Narasimhan said that each day the company sees millions of examples of customers abandoning orders because they took too long to make.  

'We have customers coming to our stores today, or on mobile order pay, who don't fulfill their transaction because of wait times,' Narasimhan said in an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer earlier this year. 

'Our team in the US has done a phenomenal job in improving speed of service but we see more opportunities in doing that.'

Narasimhan also said the first quarter of the year was disappointing due to bad weather in the US and slow demand in China - its second biggest market.  

One in 12 customers now waits between 15 and 30 minutes to get their drink, figures from industry data earlier this year show. Before the pandemic, almost no one waited that long.

During the first three months of this year, one in every 50 orders took more than half an hour, research by Technomic found. 

And it is not down to slow or lazy staff, but rather because bosses are slashing employee numbers in a bid to cut costs. At the same time, the company is also rolling out an ever more complicated drinks menu.  

Starbucks told The Wall Street Journal that it was rolling out promotions to make sure that customers who are facing a challenging economic environment continue to visit its locations. 

The company also said its prices are on par with historical trends and consistent with others in the industry. 

Executives have said in the past that its prices are needed to help provide higher wages and training for baristas along with improvements to cafes. 

The average price for a grande brewed coffee earlier this year was $3.65 - 49 percent above 2020 levels, according to Technomic.