SMS Starbucks: Coffee chain developing digital delivery service

Starbucks is expanding its digital ambitions by trialling a ‘text-ahead’ service for busy coffee lovers.

The coffee company has said it’s “actively” constructing a mobile app for smartphone users that would allow customers to order coffee before they get to a store.

Adam Brotman, Starbucks chief digital officer, said that the franchise is working on introducing the service into the mainstream. At the moment a trial is planned for some parts of the US this year to test out the software and systems.

Brotman further noted that the coffee store will update its app and add a barista tipping and a shake-to-pay option. More than 11 per cent of the chain’s US in-store transactions are now conducted through a mobile device, a figure that is expected to double in another year, said Brotman.

However he remained secretive about the details of the texting service.

“It’s something our customers have asked for. We’re not revealing a lot of details about it now,” he said.

The new texting service ambition compliments previous digital pushes from Starbucks to confirm itself as a modern forward-thinking brand in order to engage and satisfy its loyal coffee-guzzling fans.