Does Starbucks need to pick up the pace at the drive-thru?

Though Starbucks has a feverishly dedicated customer base, a new study indicates that the chain's drive-thru experience could stand to be more caffeinated. Despite ranking second in U.S. system-wide sales, Starbucks’ drive-thru rated slowest for average duration of a customer interaction in QSR Magazine’s “2016 QSR Drive-Thru Study,” with an average taking almost five minutes. Starbucks' drive-thru ranked seventh for its order accuracy out of 15 companies. But it seems as though Starbucks is aware of the problem. The coffee chain is trying out a new method of getting hot coffee into the hands of customers that could cut down on lines inside and outside of stores. At one location in Snoqualmie, Wash., the chain is piloting curbside pickup, reported Self. To use the service, customers order via app and pull into a pickup location. Their coffee is delivered to their car by a barista. Last September, when Starbucks rolled out its Mobile Order & Pay feature to all of its stores nationwide, there was speculation that pre-ordering coffee via app would drastically cut down on long lines and wait times. Starbucks has also made other moves in some markets that should have wicked off some foot traffic and cut down line length. In 2015 the chain rolled out a few pilot delivery services. Starbucks’s Green Apron Delivery services caters specifically to tenants working in the Empire State Building in New York and, through a separate partnership with Postmates, they offer delivery in certain parts of Seattle. But the logistics of getting a hot, single-serving cup of coffee, no matter if it’s a Tall, a Venti or a Grande, to an office or home no doubt presents challenges, which may explain why there has not been much talk of delivery elsewhere throughout the country since then. In March of 2015 USA Today reported that Postmates, as a company separate from Starbucks, operates in 22 markets nationwide.

• Um, Starbucks is Testing a Delivery Service – Self
• The 2016 QSR Drive-Thru Study – QSR Magazine
• Speed of Service – QSR Magazine 2016 QSR Drive-Thru Study
• Order Accuracy – QSR Magazine 2016 QSR Drive-Thru Study
• Will mobile order and pay eliminate checkout lines at Starbucks? – RetailWire
• Starbucks delivers – RetailWire
• Starbucks delivery: Experts say it can fly – USA Today