The coffee shop industry is earning a trillion-dollar per year. In the United States, it is sharing 10% of the gross domestic product. In Canada, it is contributing about 13% of the GDP, while 13% in Mexico, 11% in the European Union, 12% in Latin America and 14% in Asia. The trend in the market size and growth rates in the coffee shop industry over the past year slowed down in the yearly rate of the quarterly growth between 1998 and 2003 followed by subsequent acceleration. With interest rates increasing in 2004, the rate of growth over 2004 and 2005 is slow. On this basis, the longer-run trend in annual growth since 1998 appears downward. The consumer expenditure is still anticipated to grow in the near future, but its rate of growth will be slower than that seen between 1998 and 2004.

The scope of rivalry in the coffee shop industry is from local to international depending on whether if the competitor or regional, national or international chain. The two competing coffee shops are Starbucks Coffee and Seattle's Best has dominated the coffee shop industry, however smaller companies like Mc Cafe, Mocha Blends and San Francisco Coffee are beginning to make a large dent in coffee sales

The domestic market is in a mature stage, while the international market is in the rapid-growth stage. The coffee shop industry's curve is flatter, showing slow in growth and can be considered to be in the stage of expansion. The coffee shops industry's sales is expanding and continuously gaining profit from their cash cow products. In this life cycle of the coffee shop industry, there are some late entrants and are trying to put all efforts to have a share in the market. The leading company in the industry like Starbucks Coffee and Seattle's Best are separating their product from other lower-cost offering in order to increase volume of sales and gain profits.