Recently, against the backdrop of a coronavirus pandemic, Starbucks has been actively promoting mobile application Mobile Order & Pay, which makes it possible to be less on the coffee shop premises, observing the rules of social distance.
The application allows customers to order and pay for coffee from the smartphone. It was introduced in 2015, and since then, its popularity has constantly been growing. But if before that the number of users had increased gradually, in 2020, there would have been a qualitative leap. At the end of 2019, the number of such transactions was 16% but has now reached 24%. For comparison, the growth for the entire year 2019 was only 2%.
The changes taking place in the world inevitably have an impact on the company’s policy as well. And while previously, Starbucks positioned its coffee shops as the “third place” after home and work, they are now more like fast-food restaurants, focusing on self-service. In this report, the company confirms its long-term plans to work in this area.
Starbucks mobile payments have been prevalent in the U.S. from the very first days of their appearance. According to a report from eMarketer, in 2018, they even surpassed mobile payment systems’ popularity from Apple and Google.
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