Starbucks launches ‘Mobile Order & Pay’ in Oregon, national rollout planned for 2015

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Starbucks has announced that it’s launched a new “Mobile Order & Pay” service that will allow customers to place an order using the Starbucks app on their iPhone and schedule it for pickup. The service, which we first heard about in July, is available now at stores in Portland, Oregon, and will rollout to other locations in 2015.

The whole thing works like you’d expect it to. You can place an order for both food and beverages, and drinks are completely customizable down to the size, dairy and espresso additives, and more. Once you’ve selected all of your items, you choose the closest participating store for pickup and pay in-app with your Starbucks card.

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Users are given an approximate wait time, and can be provided with directions if needed. The store, which receives the order immediately after it is placed, is also given an estimated arrival time so that it knows when to begin preparing the drinks. The goal of the service, obviously, is to avoid both cold cups of coffee and wait times.

Starbucks isn’t the first chain to offer pre-order and payment via its mobile app—Chipotle and other restaurants have long been doing this—but it’s still an interesting move given the nature of its business (hot coffee) and large mobile user base. If you’re in the Portland area and want to check it out, the Starbucks app is free in the App Store.

[Starbucks]