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Starbucks expands mobile order-ahead feature nationwide
Posted On Sep 25 2015
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ABC News reports that the Starbucks mobile app, which has been made available nationally on Tuesday, allows customers to order and pay in advance. With Mobile Order & Pay, you have a convenient way to order items at participating Starbucks stores.
Its first store went live in Portland late past year, followed by locations in Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington.
Starbucks’ Mobile Order & Pay is not an entirely new service, although it is for most Americans.
The order and pay app for lovers of Starbucks has now been expanded from being available in only the Pacific Northwest to being available nationwide in their nearly 7,400 USA locations.
That “is indicative of the strength of our digital ecosystem, how well it has been received by both our customers and store partners and the impact we think it can have on the future of retail”, Starbucks chief digital officer Adam Brotman said in a statement. For those stores, the company is looking to add additional features, including the ability to place an order for a specific time period. The company is also planning to introduce the app to Britain and Canada next month. Initially, Starbucks introduced the mobile ordering service in 2012 through La Boulange (a bakery chain) that it had acquired the previous year.
Starbucks isn’t the only company who is venturing into the mobile service order option.
After the transaction is completed in the app, users can skip the line and instead head to the pick-up counter where they can ask a barista for their order. Those corrections allow users to customize their orders, check the availability of products in the local inventory, and determine the accurate pick-up time. He said the technology had the potential to lure customers who may have been turned off by long lines and waiting times.
In July, Starbucks also announced a multiyear deal with the San Francisco-based rideshare service Lyft in which riders can earn reward points, or “stars”, in Starbucks’ loyalty program for fare purchases with Lyft.
