Order & pay the Starbucks way?
Your train is delayed? You’re late for your meeting? You’ve got too much work? You need your caffeine fix but there isn’t enough time. If only there was a way?
Apparently now there is!
Starbucks have recently announced the roll out of their ‘Order & Pay’ feature across all 7400 stores in the US. Now the whole country can order a coffee from their local outlet right from the palm of their hands. Starbucks expects Mobile Order & Pay to “increase speed of service, drive incremental transactions and increase throughput”. This could be a game changer!
Imagine, your coffee is ready for you as you step in the door. Wow, this would save you time, everyday! Your regular order is crafted to perfection, payment has been settled and loyalty points stored. You greet your barista, grab your coffee, and thank them for this excellence service.
This is the way it should be. No more waiting in queues, no more loyalty cards taking up your wallet, no more carrying change around! Convenient coffee ordering in your pocket.
Watch this news story explain Starbucks’ mobile app journey
This is obviously the future of coffee ordering. Customers are crying out for the ability to save time on this everyday task. “Bringing Mobile Order and Pay to our customers is about meeting their needs of convenience and customization at any time of the day,” Adam Brotman, Starbucks’ chief digital officer, said in a press release.
The simplicity of the mobile ordering interface, intuitive design and the automatic reward recognition make for a great user experience. Watch the app in action for a usual consumer on their daily coffee run.
What does this roll out mean?
It is clear that Starbucks are paving the way across the digital landscape of coffee shops at the moment. Pioneering order & pay features, coupled with a world leading loyalty system, are growing their customer base and improving retention. Additional innovations, such as office delivery and digital ticketing, are solidifying their thought-leadership status.
What does this mean for the competition?
This is a wake-up call for all coffee chains and independents alike. As customers realise the benefits, Starbucks will reap the rewards. We can see already that customer behaviours are rapidly changing, 33% of Millennials are now ordering using their smartphones! The mobile ordering trend is upon us. It is a just matter of before this channel starts to dominate the coffee industry.
The issue is, smaller independent outlets don’t have the R&D resources that Starbucks have. Building an app is a risky investment as it may struggle to become recognised by the market and customers don’t want apps for each coffee shop on their phones. In the UK, Ordable offer the ability for these independent outlets to host their menus and target their local customer base. All the benefits associated with the Starbucks app are now available to these outlets and their consumers.
Independent coffee shops must realise the need to target the smartphone ordering channel and adopt Ordable.
Consumers are loving the new order & pay feature, you just have to see how excited these guys in the video are about it launching in their area.
Now watch me order, now watch me pay pay…
