Starbucks’ app lets customers nationwide pay on-site for their coffees, but ordering ahead of time started being tested in December at 150 Portland-area stores.
(Bloomberg)—Starbucks Corp. will expand its mobile-ordering service to four Western states, building on a test that lets customers in Portland, Oregon, transmit their requests for lattes and mochas before entering a store.
Starbucks will bring its mobile order and pay program to 650 cafes across Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho beginning March 17, the company said in a statement Tuesday. While Starbucks’ app already lets customers nationwide pay on-site for their coffees, the ability to order ahead of time only started being tested in December at 150 stores in the Portland area.
CEO Howard Schultz said earlier this year that 16% of Starbucks’ U.S. store transactions now come through its mobile-payment app, which was introduced in 2009. The app has more than 13 million users, who pay and earn reward points by having their phones scanned at the register.
