Starbucks rolls out mobile ordering to all U.S. locations

Customers can order and pay ahead on their mobile devices and then bypass the line once they get to Starbucks.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) has completed the rollout of its popular sales boosting Mobile Order and Pay service.

Now, the feature is available on Android and iOS at more than 7,000 locations across the country. Sitting outside between two homeless men amidst a territorial spat, I realize Starbucks would be hard pressed to offer a better staged scene promoting its new mobile order and pay (MOP) initiative, which goes live across company-owned stores in the USA today.

Starbucks launched the function in December 2014, but only in Portland, Oregon.

Once an order is placed, the app gives you an ETA for the finished mocha-frappa-whatever – and anything else you might’ve ordered – so all you have to do is stop in and pick up the goods. Users may find that by pre-ordering and paying, they have skipped one line, only to wait in another for their order to be made.

The easy to use feature is flawlessly integrated into the My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program, which allows users to simply sign up and earn stars that will result in more caffeinated beverages. Brands Inc., introduced a mobile app previous year that lets diners order ahead and pay on their phones. While the order coffee app is a neat idea, time will tell if it is truly a benefit to consumers needing a caffeine fix.

Order and pay for your tall blonde roast with milk and a shot of hazelnut, and blueberry yogurt muffin with honey from your bed.

Customers can then pick up their orders at the bar area in the Starbucks they selected.

For example, the company plans to begin testing a “green apron” delivery service in New York City at the Empire State Building by the end of 2015.

Already, about 1 in 5 Starbucks customers pay by app, which helps to speed up the line. But David Palmer, a longtime Starbucks analyst who works for RBC Capital Markets, says it’s as much as a 2 percent bump, which for a company with $19 billion in expected sales this year means hundreds of millions of dollars.