Starbucks customers can now have their lattes and breakfast sandwiches waiting for them when they arrive in stores with the roll out of a new mobile payment feature.
Mobile Order & Pay launched in certain Starbucks locations in the Greater Toronto Area on Tuesday. The new feature is part of the Starbucks app for iPhone. It allows customers to pre-order their drinks and food and pick-up in stores while skipping the line.
Through the app, customers can browse the Starbucks menu and send their order to a location of their choosing. The app uses geolocation technology to tell customers how long it will take them to get to the store, and their estimated pick-up time.
"Companies are awakening to the idea that the differentiator is not necessarily what they sell, it's how they sell it," retail expert Doug Stephens told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday. "It's the additional convenience that they can add through things like technology, and we're really seeing that come to the market now."
Saunders said Starbucks is just one retailer that using technology that allows customers to skip the checkout line.
- Loblaws Click and Collect grocery services allows customers to order their groceries ahead of time and choose a pick-up time in stores.
- Green P Parking's mobile payment app allows customers to purchase and extend parking time. Customers are also alerted when their parking time is about to expire and they can top up their parking time remotely.
