Restaurant chain apps are reshaping a business built on human interaction. But these new systems don’t always work as planned. Many companies faced problems after introducing mobile ordering. One of the companies was Starbucks. Starbucks noticed a similar problem about nine months ago at its 1,000 cafes with the highest volume of mobile orders. Congestion was getting worse in the area where drinks were handed off when customers who had ordered online came in to pick up their orders. Many customers who came into the cafes to buy something saw the long lines and turned away, contributing to an overall decline in transactions.
Starbucks had to solve this problem by changing the way its baristas handle orders. Originally, the display screens showed no distinction between orders made online and orders made at the registers in the cafes. Now, baristas can see which orders were made online, and they can notify customers on the app when those orders are ready, With this change online customers don’t need to mill around the cafe waiting for their drinks.
Starbucks was able to make changes to adapt to the use of mobile apps by its customers. Now Starbucks has a new system so customers can track an order and how long it takes. Customers can also see if the mobile order takes longer than an order placed at the store.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mobile-ordering-apps-create-problems-for-restaurants-1508119500
ReplyDeleteNew technology definitely always has its pros and cons and Starbucks was able to overcome the problem.