Starbucks is offering its millions of customers a new wireless service in which they will be able to both order their drinks and pay for them before they even enter the store called Mobile Order & Pay.
Launched first in Portland, Oregon this week, Mobile Order & Pay allows customers to place orders in advance of their visit and pick them up at their chosen Starbucks store. The company boasts that the mobile ordering experience is “seamlessly integrated” into Starbucks mobile app and My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program. Mobile Order & Pay is available for customers using a Starbucks app for iPhone (version 3.2)* in markets where the feature is available.
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Store locations appear based on the GPS functionality of a customer’s iPhone. Upon first use, users will be asked to accept location services allowing Starbucks to identify the nearest location offering Mobile Order & Pay. If customers choose not to accept location services, they will not be able to use the Mobile Order & Pay feature but will have access to the Starbucks Mobile Menu.
Starbucks spokeswoman Linda Mills told The Huffington Post, “When a customer’s order is placed using mobile ordering, it is immediately sent to their selected store and our world-class Starbucks partners, or baristas, will begin preparing the customer’s ordered items. The mobile ordering feature will provide the customer with an approximate wait time at their selected store prior to purchase.”
The company expects to offer the new service across the U.S. starting next year.
In other Starbucks news the company has launched its first Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room mega-store in Seattle’s Capitol Hill. The 15, 000 square foot large tourist attraction also has a theater. It is not for someone who just want a cup of java to go, though. If you think the average Starbucks is expensive the cheapest cup there goes for $3.
“This is the theater of coffee, ” said Liz Muller, creative vice president of global design, who oversaw store construction the past year told USA Today “We wanted to create a space to reinvent retail for the 21st century.”
“We are building a new brand within Starbucks, ” said Starbucks CEO and Chairman Howard Schultz at the company’s investor day Thursday. “Very rarely do you get innovate and create within your core business.”
