Starbucks is working with technology giant Microsoft to expand its ability to anticipate customers’ orders and suggest new purchases.
Soon, the company says, customers will be able to track their coffee from their cup back to the farm where the beans were grown.
Starbucks currently tracks customer purchasing patterns – reinforcement learning – in order to customize the next coffee shop visit. Customers using the Starbucks mobile app receive suggestions that consider their previous orders, individual store inventory, time of day, community preference, and even the weather. The technology is built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud programming application.
Starbucks and Microsoft now want to take the experience to the drive-thru lane. While individual order histories won’t be available as they are with the mobile app, the system will display drive-thru recommendations based on what’s available and popular at the store. The system is being tested in Seattle.
“Starbucks is an experience,” says Gerri Martin-Flickinger, Starbucks executive v.p. and c.t.o. “And it’s centered around that customer connection in the store, the human connection, one person, one cup, one neighborhood at a time. I think that mission is so critical to how technology has to show up for us. Using data for personalization is vital to our mobile app, and now we are leveraging data to improve our drive-thru experience.”
Starbucks shareholders, meanwhile, were shown how the mobile app can tell you where your coffee came from and how it arrived in your cup.
During a demonstration at a March shareholders meeting, a Starbucks executive scanned a bag of Pike Place beans using the phone app. People could see where the beans originated and roasted. Eventually, the system may be able to tell customers about ethical and sustainable sourcing and suggestions on how to brew each coffee for best quality.