Starbucks has revealed it is testing out a new algorithm to help improve the customer experience after wait times for coffees blew out to over 40 minutes.
The coffee giant is undergoing a digital transformation, according to Starbucks Chief Technology Officer Deb Hall Lefevre.
Starbucks Chief Technology Officer Deb Hall Lefevre said the company was working to reduce coffee wait times[/caption]
The tech changes form part of new CEO Brian Niccol’s pledge to “get back to Starbucks”[/caption]
Lefevre appeared on a panel at the National Retail Federation’s annual Big Show in New York City, an event which brings together over 40,000 retail executives and industry leaders.
Starbucks is testing out a new algorithm to improve order efficiency and reduce wait times, and is designed to help store employees work more efficiently.
The changes come after employees complained understaffing in cafes had led to skyrocketing wait times, unfinished orders and lost sales according to Bloomberg News.
Some consumers claimed to have waited up to 40 minutes for the baristas to prepare drinks.
Frank Britt, Starbucks’ chief reinvention officer, told Bloomberg news that the delays were “unacceptable”.
Starbucks has disputed that it is understaffed but acknowledged longer wait times have contributed to the company’s declining financial performance.
The company’s new CEO Brian Niccol has pledged to cut coffee wait times down to just four minutes, as part of his big “Back to Starbucks” comeback plan.
Niccol said the company needed to get faster at fulfilling orders.
“We want to hand deliver a high-quality handcrafted beverage to our cafe customers in four minutes or less,” Niccol said in December.
Lefevre said the company was focused on modernizing its technology across all 40,000 stores and 19,000 licensee locations.
She noted that Niccol’s pledge to “get back to Starbucks” was going to be underpinned by several technology changes and digital updates.
Explaining the new algorithm, Lefevre said it was designed to help cut customer wait times during peak ordering periods, when 40% of orders were online rather than in person.
The changes are set to be tested in February and March.
“If you have a strong [tech] foundation and solid architecture, you’re going to have a winning platform,” she said.
MAJOR U-TURN
Starbucks made headlines this week after it was reported the coffee giant would now force customers to make a purchase if they want to hang out in their cafes, reversing a nearly seven year old policy.
Americans will no longer be able to linger in a Starbucks store without spending money due to the new rule, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
This marks a major U-turn from its former policy, which permitted the general public to hang out in the cafe or use the restroom without making a purchase.
The new code of conduct is intended to boost the safety and experience of customers and employees.
‘NEED TO RESET’
In further efforts to improve its security, Starbucks’s new policies include adding signs that ban harassment, violence, threatening language, outside alcohol, smoking, and panhandling in its cafes, per employee notices viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The coffee giant hopes to make its stores more hospitable as part of a greater effort to revive its dip in customer traffic and sales.
“There is a need to reset expectations for how our spaces should be used, and who uses them,” Starbucks North America President Sara Trilling said in a letter sent this week.
Company executives have discussed how patrons deserve a clean, safe environment and shared that Starbucks workers have also voiced concerns about the coffee giant being open to the public.
