Starbucks App “Pandemic Pick Up” Experience

I haven’t ordered Starbucks in a really long time, especially via their mobile app, since the most recent lockdown in Toronto.  Recently, on my grocery pickup runs, and all thanks to the third trimester of pregnancy for my sugar cravings, I started picking up Pistachio Lattes and here’s what I noticed:

I haven’t been on the Starbucks app in a while, so I can’t make a before and after comparison of my experience, however... we’ve just about surpassed a year since the pandemic and lockdowns have started, and Starbucks has yet to provide an alert feature for when your drink is ready for pick up.

Let’s be real...the estimated pick up time is not exactly accurate. Or maybe it is depending on the location. And Starbucks looks fairly busy inside with everyone waiting for their drink orders...both mobile orders and walk-ins.

But before we even get to that...let’s talk about ordering my latte first.

Problem: When you open the app, your eye navigates to the large green button at the bottom right that says “Scan in Store”

Solution: Add an additional button that says “Order Pick Up”. I swear they were marketing mobile ordering much more pre-pandemic days.

I was confused as to what “Scan in Store” meant. In a world where everything has been CURBSIDE PICK UP first, I definitely had to think about this. So I can’t be the only one.  Evidently I’m not a loyal customer who knows the app in and out, but I’ve ordered this latte about 5 times in the last two weeks and was not able to retrace my order steps easily even once. 

Another interesting observation....the home screen of the apps looks like a blog..or am i missing something here? I’m fairly confused as to what Starbucks’ goal is here for their customers. 

Take a closer look at the bottom menu options...the ORDER icon button is not even the second choice beside the HOME icon….instead the SCAN icon button is reiterated...why?

Drink Pick Up Alert

Solution: Allow for the barista who adds the final step to your drink to tap DONE so that it alerts the customer that their drink is ready.

Problem: They give you an estimated window of 4-8 minutes of when you order that your drink will be ready.

This will not only avoid the customer having to wait inside among other customers, especially since plenty of customers still place walk-in orders, but also avoid the guessing of when your drink will be ready and wondering whether it will be still be hot or if the ice is starting to melt.