In an interview with Re/code, Adam Brotman (Starbucks Chief Digital Officer) said that the company is going to start allowing customers to pre-order their drinks through the Starbucks app, pay for them using their Starbucks card, and then pick up orders a few minutes later. Brotman said the company will test the feature in a few select stores in the coming months, but plans to offer the feature everywhere.
Brotman claims that customers have been requesting this feature for years, and it’s only now that Starbucks feels strong enough to execute the idea. He hopes the feature will cut down on the long lines that occur at peak times.
Starbucks is one of the leading companies in mobile payments, and already lets you pay by scanning a barcode tied to an account through the Starbucks app. Brotman mentioned that the company is also looking into turning its app into a digital wallet for other retailers, turning it into a trusted and easy to use mobile payments solution. Apple is thought to be working on its own mobile payments solution, which would allow users to pay wirelessly with their iPhones. Apple has a significant advantage if it were to enter the mobile payments market though, since it has hundreds of millions of credit cards linked to iTunes accounts.
