Starbucks to open a mobile order-only store in Seattle HQ

Starbucks introduced its mobile ordering system two years ago, and since then, it’s been immensely popular – in fact, so popular that the firm is testing a mobile order-only store within its Seattle headquarters.

According to Reuters, Starbucks said in a letter to its employees that the company would be opening a new mobile order-only cafe inside its Seattle headquarters next week. In an effort to increase customer convenience, the company introduced mobile orders in 2015: instead of physically going into the store, you could simply select your drink from a menu within your app, pay in advance, and receive an estimated pick-up time.

But ironically, customers just ended up waiting in a virtual line, most locations suffering from inundations of mobile orders. The coffee chain is hoping that a dedicated mobile order and pay location might make a difference. Currently, the Seattle headquarters has two Starbucks cafes that serve more than 5,000 company employees. One of those is, according to Reuters, one of the top three stores in the US for mobile ordering.

Starting next week, all mobile orders from the building will be sent to the new mobile-only store, which is said to feature a large window for pick-ups, and you can even watch how your drink is made. Though it’s not yet clear whether a move to mobile order-only stores will facilitate a faster and bottleneck-free way of ordering and receiving drinks, if successful, we are bound to see more of these around the US.

In the meantime, if you don’t have the Starbucks app yet and want to give it a try, here’s a link to the Play Store:

What are your thoughts on mobile order-only stores? What’s your experience been with Starbuck’s app? Let us know by leaving a comment below!