Are you taking mobile orders yet?

Posted on: 2017-03-23 2:58 PM

Starbucks mobile order and pay services are getting an upgrade. The company disclosed during its annual meeting of shareholders Wednesday that it will be giving its customers more ways to order coffee than before.
 
Starbucks, which enabled orders via Amazon's Alexa last year, announced that the feature would also be integrated into Ford vehicles later this year.
 
The coffee chain is also expanding its My Starbucks barista, a feature integrated into the Starbucks app, which allows customers to order via voice command or messaging. The goal is to boost speed and convenience.
 
Adopting mobile ordering has given Starbucks a boost, but hasn't come without pain.
 
About 13 million customers are signed up for Starbucks Rewards and 9 million are mobile paying customers, with one-in-three using mobile order and pay.
 
The popularity of Starbucks' mobile ordering and pay app caused bottlenecking at pickup counters and ultimately hampered sales, the company reported in January.
 
Mobile transactions spiked throughout the coffee shop's U.S. locations last quarter, with 1,200 of its locations experiencing a 20 percent jump in mobile pay and ordering during peak hours.
 
The company disclosed that the increase in user volume and crowding at pickup stations caused incoming customers to leave without making purchases, Kevin Johnson, Starbucks' president, and soon-to-be CEO said, at the time.
 
Since then, Starbucks said it is testing ways to make the process run more smoothly.