Starbucks narrows payment gap with Twosome Place in South Korea

Starbucks has seen its estimated credit and debit card payment volume increase for two consecutive months in South Korea, narrowing the gap with market leader Twosome Place. According to data from Mobile Index, Starbucks' estimated payments reached 116.12 billion won in August, a 5.5% increase from July.

While Twosome Place remains the top brand in terms of estimated payments with 117.99 billion won, the margin between the two companies has shrunk significantly from approximately 7 billion won in July to 1.9 billion won in August. Despite this rebound, Starbucks' August figures remain 15.9% lower than the same month last year, whereas Twosome Place saw a 7.6% year-on-year increase.

Other major players remained relatively stable, with Mega MGC Coffee recording 97.87 billion won and Paik's Coffee at 24.51 billion won. Analysts note that because Starbucks relies heavily on its own prepaid cards and mobile vouchers, these credit card-based estimates may not fully reflect total revenue or the complete extent of customer recovery.