Starbucks is introducing its first order-ahead mobile app in a bid to speed up service. Mobile ordering will be available across the U.S. next year after it begins in about 150 stores in the Portland area.
Using the mobile app, customers will select the items and the location for pickup and the app will show the approximate wait time before the order is placed. When the order is placed, payment is made from the customer’s registered Starbucks Card. The customer then simply walks into the coffee shop, identify themselves and then collect the order.
“We do believe that this will increase our sales and will increase the throughput in our stores,” Adam Brotman, chief digital officer, said in an interview. “This is the beginning of a national rollout. We feel we’re going to be constantly learning and improving how mobile ordering works.”
Retail-innovation.com has spotted a trend in hospitality where companies are trying to remove the friction from order payment allowing staff to focus on just serving the food or drink. The UK’s Twickenham stadium were early adopters in this space with their successful trial used for ordering beverages from your seat.
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