Just as near-instantaneous food delivery has become a marvel of the 21st century, so too has rapid pickup at your local coffee shop.
Sure, plenty of people still enjoy making a leisurely stop at their local café ahead of work. You read the paper, say hello to your friendly barista or pastry chef behind the counter, banter about the news or your neighbors, sip an espresso and make your way downtown for the start of the work day.
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But those people are mostly in Europe.
Here in the U.S., many folks pride themselves on being busy or having little to no time for a coffee run.
And with a coffee chain on every corner (chances are, it's a Starbucks (SBUX) -)), you don't really have to wait.
Enter the Starbucks mobile app. With over 31 million active users, you can easily order your customized beverage or snack of choice ahead of time, receive a time estimate for when it's ready for pickup (usually it's around 10-15 minutes), pop in, find the cup with your correctly spelled name, and pop out. It's a seamless process that keeps millions of Americans from the brink each day.
Starbucks making a major change to app
But Starbucks has been grappling with the issue of overloaded baristas for some time now. New CEO Laxman Narasimhan is aware of the issue, and Starbucks is working to solve one of its biggest pain points as union activity ramps up and labor proponents advocate for a less stressful work environment.
One of the solutions has been to begin installing Siren Systems, a new technology which will cut down on the number of steps needed to concoct a complicated order, like a custom Frappuccino or a toasted panini. Siren Systems include things like "a custom ice dispenser, milk-dispensing system and new, faster blenders all located within reach of a barista," according to Starbucks.
By 2026, Starbucks expects 40% of its stores to have a Siren System, which will certainly help.
But 2026 is still a ways out. And Starbucks needs to help its baristas now.
Enter a solution for its mobile order.
Starbucks will begin testing a new in-store feature whereby stores can temporarily pause mobile orders if they're inundated with in-store customers, have fewer baristas than usual, or experience equipment failure – like a broken espresso machine.
The move is expected to solve for a common situation which is "negatively impacting the Starbucks experience," according to an internal memo.
Customers who try to place an order through a store on pause will receive an alert, and they can either go into the store, try another store, or simply wait until their initial store begins taking orders again.
Starbucks' mobile app accounts for approximately 27% of sales in the U.S. as of Q4 2023.
Starbucks told TheStreet that "our stores have always had the ability to temporarily modify available channels of service," and the café is simply bringing the ability into the modern times by allowing it to happen on iPads in real time.
"The digital enhancement, which was initiated more than four months ago, is one of many outcomes of our work to continue to listen to our partners evolving needs and best support them in their job," Starbucks told TheStreet.
But it maintains this feature had always been in place – though it was trickier to implement in past years.
"Supervisors and managers have always been able to pause mobile orders in response to a range of potential issues and constraints," Starbucks said.
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