Starbucks Enhances Drive-Thru Experience

The coffeehouse chain is adding two-way video screens in an effort to improve drive-thru service.

October 21, 2015

SEATTLE – What can you do to make drive-thru ordering more personable? If you’re Starbucks, add video screens that show the barista’s face alongside your order and total, Bloomberg Business reports.

The drive-thru lanes at 2,400 of the company’s U.S. locations will receive the video screen upgrade over the next 12 months. The coffeehouse chain tested the video screens in Seattle as part of a pilot program to use technology to develop better service and productivity. “It’s about that customer-barista connection,” said Haley Drage, Starbucks spokeswoman.

The change shows the technology race many restaurant chains are engaged in with new apps, rewards programs and touch screens being deployed to draw in customers. Starbucks is often at the forefront of new technology and last month expanded its mobile ordering to all its Canadian and U.S. locations. Currently, orders via mobile devices are around 20% of U.S. transactions at Starbucks.

The company wants to give drivers more of an in-store feel, which CEO Howard Schultz has citeed as a major reason why the chain has been growing. During the past three fiscal years, revenue has jumped more than 10% each year. “Our brand is defined quintessentially by the experience in our stores,” said Schultz in early 2015. “And our stores come to life by our people.”

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