Starbucks Planning Delivery Service
Starbucks is everywhere. There are more than 10,000 cafes in the U.S., and Boston is home to dozens of outposts of the Seattle chain.
But by late next year, the Starbucks devotee may not need to walk down the street to get his or her fix. CEO Howard Schultz said on a conference call yesterday that the chain is planning to wade into delivery in a handful of markets in 2015. (No word on whether Boston will be one of them.)
“Imagine the ability to create a standing order of Starbucks delivered hot to your desk daily,’’ Schultz said. “That’s our version of e-commerce on steroids.’’
According to CNBC, Starbucks delivery will be available to users of its mobile ordering app, which is expected to roll out nationally early next year. The app’s chief function will let customers place and pay for orders before they get to the store, keeping their time spent in line to a minimum. Schultz apparently wants this to also fuel a delivery service.
And what about Starbucks chief rival, Canton-based Dunkin’ Donuts? Dunkin’ hasn’t done much in the way of delivery beyond finding ways to shut it down. However, it too is planning to test a mobile ordering app.
Maybe that will similarly allow for a Dunkin’ delivery service down the road. But the mobile ordering plans from both chains more immediately reflect an effort to improve, or at least speed up, customers’ shopping experiences at a time in which the breakfast battleground is saturating and consumer behaviors are shifting. That much was indicated by Dunkin’s most recent earnings report.
If every inch in that fight counts, then eliminating lines at the register and perhaps even eliminating the need to enter the store, could serve to cover quite a few of them. (But seriously: Starbucks and Dunkin’ are probably each a five minute walk from where you’re sitting right now.)
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