Starbucks’ new tool will let you skip the lineup

Mobile order and pay feature will be available Oct. 13 in Toronto

If you’re ever in desperate need of coffee but without the patience to wait in a long line, you’ll soon be in luck.

Starbucks Canada is launching a new mobile order and pay feature on its iPhone app Oct. 13.

The feature will allow customers to order their coffee and other items in advance and pick them up at the location of their choice.

The program will be available starting with 300 stores in the Greater Toronto Area and expand to some of Starbucks’ 1,000 other Canadian stores in 2016.

“Toronto is the largest city in Canada and also home to some of Starbucks busiest North American stores,” says Jessica Mills, director brand and digital, Starbucks Canada.

“It represents a significant opportunity for us to enhance the customer experience and significantly save customers some time,” Mills said in a press release.

The feature is already available in Starbucks’ company-owned stores in the U.S.

Giselle Enriquez, a student in California was running late for class and knew she would miss her train if she had to wait in line for her coffee fix.

“I ordered and paid for my drink through the app and it gave me the approximate 6-8 minute window of when my order should be ready,” Enriquez said in an interview via Twitter. “I left my house at 6:15 a.m. and started running, I arrived at my Starbucks by 6:25 a.m. and when I walked over to the pick up area, sure enough my drink was ready for me to grab and go.”

She managed to make her train in time and stay on schedule.

Some customers, however, will stick to the old ways.

University of Toronto student, Eugenia Lee, working on her laptop with a coffee in hand at a Starbucks on Danforth Avenue west of Pape Avenue, wants the full experience.

“Usually on a regular day, I don’t always know what to get, so I want to look at the menu,” Lee said. “I might use it if they allow it during times like happy hour so you don’t have to wait in that huge line.”

About this article

By: Nazaneen Baqizada
Posted: Oct 9 2015 2:17 pm
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Filed under: Arts & Life Food
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