Tag: mobile ordering

The coffee giant is now embarking on the rollout of a new level of technology due to massive successes.

Starbucks is boosting the use of smartphone based solutions in its hundreds of coffee shop locations, greatly because of the tremendous successes it has seen in mobile payments.

Recent data has shown that 21 percent of payment transactions at Starbucks are completed over smartphones.

The successes that the coffee chain has seen has propelled it to the top of the mobile payments list, making the company the example for the way that mobile technology can be used to boost business and raise customer engagement. It has managed to accomplish this goal more effectively than any other company in the food and beverage service marketplace. It is precisely this message that was being shared along with the announcement from execs that the company had met the expectations of analysts for its fiscal fourth quarter earnings report. It reached a record breaking revenue of $4.9 billion, with profits of about $969 million.

Smartphone based ordering has been expanding outside the United States where mobile payments have been hot.

The mobile ordering option was rolled out in the U.S. last December. This allowed consumers to be able to skip the line by placing their coffee orders in advance through the app on their smartphone. By September, the feature reached all 7,400 stores across the country. The feature has since been making its way into additional markets with tests being launched in Canada and the United Kingdom.

According to execs from the company when they announced the company’s earnings, there have already been five million monthly transactions completed by customers who have been using the Mobile Order & Pay feature.

President of North American operations for Starbucks, Cliff Burrows, explained that “It has been incredible to see the adoption by customers across the country,” adding that “With each wave that we launch, the ramp rate has been quicker for adoption.”

It’s clear that even beyond mobile payments, Starbucks is continuing to lead the way in customer engagement and in revenue generation by way of shopper smartphones.

The company has also hired their first chief information officer, which was recently announced.

With the goal of enhancing the smartphone based presence, the Chipotle’s Mexican Grill fast-casual chain has announced that it is placing a focus on mobile ordering and payments and that it has hired its first chief information officer.

Curt Garner, formerly the CIO of Starbucks, is now the first person to take this position at Chipotle’s.

This decision to hire a CIO has come at the same time that the company intends to broaden its mobile ordering and payment offerings, two features that are becoming quite commonplace throughout the fast casual and fast food sectors. In this, Chipotle’s is far from alone, as Starbucks, Panera, Domino’s and Taco Bell – among many others – have already been major players in this space. In fact, until now, those companies have been notably more aggressive in their m-commerce efforts than Chipotle’s.

The company believes that strategic expansion of mobile ordering and payments will change the way people interact with fast food.

According to the founder, co-CEO, and chairperson of Chipotle’s, Steve Ells, “We are changing the way people think about and eat fast food.” He added that a central component of the vision of the company is their effort to offer customers the best possible restaurant experience. “As we look for ways to create efficiencies in our restaurants and improve the customer experience through the strategic use of technology, Curt’s experience and expertise make him an ideal and welcome addition to our management team.”

Before moving to Chipotle’s, Garner had held several different technology positions at Starbucks, spanning almost twenty years. That company has been crowned as the current ruler of the mobile payments segment and it has recently expanded its mobile app based ordering, as well, making it possible for customers to skip the line and simply pick up their orders.

This makes Garner a very strategic addition to Chipotle’s, which first announced that it would be rolling out mobile ordering on its Apple Watch app back in April. Not long afterward, officials from the company said they would be focusing on updating their mobile app for better efficiency.