[qiqing]

Starbucks is doing very well in China (as well as KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds, and their compatriots), and also Apple, Nike, Tesla, Coach, Carrefour, Tesco, and more. (Latter 2 are from Europe.)

Prior to the rise of Taobao, most of my family members didn't really use eBay in China. Most of them prefer using mobile (like the bulk of consumers in China), but if you prioritize the browser experience and 'consistency across the global platform' over what your local users want, well, shrug, let's pretend there's nothing to learn here from a UX perspective...

In contrast, Starbucks has a different user experience when you walk into one in Shanghai or Hangzhou. You place your order and pay for it via phone and pick it up at the register and you don't have to stand in a line. I wish they'd replicate that in the US.

[nehene]

I still haven't seen a suggestion engine (including the image search verity) nor chat system (in terms of utility) that could compete with what Taobao had a couple of years ago. (It does probably exist in China though). I think people confuse Taobao with AliExpress. The latter being about as useless as eBay. Once you build some history on Taobao, you can spend days just browsing.

[mahranch]

> Starbucks is doing very well in China

Starbucks is considered extremely high-end/luxury in China. It's not just an overpriced coffee shop like it is here in the U.S. It's considered 'exotic'.