If you haven’t got time to stand around in a Starbucks queue to place your order, the good news is that the company has completed the U.S. rollout of its ‘order ahead’ service, which allows you to place and pay for your order on your iPhone before reaching the store.
The service started as a test in Portland before gradually expanding across the USA. It says that it is now available in all 7,400 wholly-owned stores. Note that it is not supported by franchised stores, which tend to be smaller.
Starbucks says that the service will be introduced in Canada and the UK next month. The app is a free download from iTunes.
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Been using this for about two months now….its fantastic! Never in the store more than 25 seconds.
Same! Love the look on people’s (who are waiting in a 20 person line) faces when I walk in, grab my drink and go!
Two complaints about the service…
1.) They stop taking orders on it half our to one hour before closing. Maybe fair, but irritating.
2.) They get very snippy if you try and pick up the order in the drive-thru. If I’m ordering ahead, I’d rather not park and walk.
Doesn’t the drive thru defeat the purpose of the service? There is no way to skip to the front of the line with a drive thru so you still have to wait for all the cars in front of you to get served.