Target has begun to expand its free curbside pickup service of Starbucks food and drinks at select stores as an add-on for customers using the store’s Drive Up program.
To use the service, a customer places a Starbucks order via the Target app and clicks “add for drive up.” A notification will be sent when the order is ready, and a Target team member will deliver the order to the car along with the Drive Up purchase from Target.
The service, which began a nationwide rollout earlier this summer, is set to be available in more than 1,700 stores with Starbucks Cafes and Drive Up service by early October. While customers can earn 5% off their order if using the Target Red Card, they will not receive Starbuck rewards points.
"Our guests have long told us Drive Up is a game-changer, adding convenience to their daily life, especially when they're short on time,” Mark Schindele, chief stores officer at Target, said in a statement. “Although Target first introduced Drive Up in 2018, this one-of-a-kind service with Starbucks, available only at Target, is the latest example of how we're innovating every day to meet the needs of our guests."
20-year partnership
Target said that stores currently offering Drive Up with Starbucks report that the service is proving popular with iced brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso, birthday cake pop and iced caramel macchiato as the three top-selling items.
Target said it is the first retailer to offer this service at this scale, which builds on a more than 20-year partnership with Starbucks and offers customers the convenience of curbside pickup while also growing customer loyalty.
Earlier this summer, Target also enhanced its Drive Up service by allowing customers to make product returns curbside for free.
As Kiplinger previously reported, Target started a pilot program involving curbside pickup for Starbucks items in 2022 and began working on the feature in 2021
Curbside pickup became a mainstream option for shoppers during the pandemic, with retailers like the Gap, Kohls, Walmart and many grocery stores launching the feature for the first time in 2020, according to a Modern Retail report.
