Several Starbucks Drive Thrus Test Video Chat Ordering

Huff Po: A few Starbucks drive-thru locations in Washington and Nevada have recently started to experiment with a technology more closely associated with long-distance relationships than grande Frappuccinos: video chat.

According to a Starbucks "unofficial fan site" StarbucksMelody.com, customers pulling up to order at one of these test branches are greeted by the disembodied moving head of a Starbucks barista inside the store to take orders. (The baristas can see the customer as well, but Starbucks spokeswoman Alisa Martinez that's true at all the company's drive-thru locations.) DigitalTrends reads into the fact that high-res ads of Starbucks drinks dance underneath the video chat screen -- possibly enticing people to order more -- while the Seattle Post-Intelligencer sees the video chatting as part of Starbuck's broader effort to make its customer experience more intimate and homey.

Martinez confirmed that the Post's theory was on the mark. "There's just a little bit more personal interaction in the drive-thru experience when you have the video screen," she told The Huffington Post.

This makes sense from a branding perspective. To most Americans, drive-thru means cheap, anonymous pit stops at fast-food mega-chains. Some McDonald's drive-thrus have even outsourced customers' orders to employees in far-off call centers, rather than in-store employees. That doesn't exactly engender cuddly feelings.

Part of Starbucks' appeal is that customers can expect to make some sort of personal connection with the employees in stores. For some, the friendly smile of a barista can take the sting out of a $4.50 morning coffee. (The same, to some extent, could be said of Chipotle, which is currently struggling to adapt its signature assembly-line format to drive-thru lanes as the chain expands beyond urban centers.) As anyone who's used FaceTime or Skype knows, video chat isn't quite the same as talking in person, but it's definitely closer than shouting through a static-filled PA system.

Martinez said that it's too early to say if Starbucks will bring the video screens to more drive-thru locations

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Comments

[Vantalbar]

Wait, some McDonalds outsourced the drive-through orders? Why? That just sounds like a disaster in the making.

[The Last Archimedean]

How is outsourcing drive-through orders to a call center even *possible*? Don't they physically need to be there to make the order and hand you the food?

[Jane]

You've never heard of this? Someone off-site enters in the orders and it shows up on the in-store order system, leaving more on-site employees to be preparing food.

[Mollywobbles]

Hey, Starbucks.

You know what?

This "video chat" ordering is, indeed, slightly more personal than a speaker system.

But you know what is even more personal than staring a computer screen in the face?

Actually looking at a person, AKA "face-to-face" ordering. Several McDonald's chains use it (in fact, the McD's I work at does), and I'd imagine it's not only a bit more personal, it also saves a shit-ton of money from being wasted on a stupid hi-def freaking video screen showing you the face of the person you're ordering from.

Seriously, this is the absolute stupidest thing I have ever heard of. This is essentially the exact same thing as face-to-face ordering, but with the added expense of a dumbass video screen. What happens when the screen shuts down? I'd be willing to bet the customers would have to pull up to the window to place an order, essentially doing the exact same thing as the idiotic "ordering screen". I just...I don't think I can properly convey how absolutely stupid this idea is.

[The Last Archimedean]

Jane, that's great until the internet in India has a problem. Then the orders stop coming in and you have to shut down the drive-through.

I personally wouldn't rely on such a complex system. It's easier to pull up to the window, say "Big Mac and medium fries" and have the person hand you a Big Mac and medium fries.

[smileyburgers]

this is actually pretty cool. the reason it's not done face to face is because the order taker isn't the only one with a headset. the kitchen has headsets too to get a head start on the order. I work at a Burger King with a busy drive through. And one of the problems we face is that the drive through person can't supplement their listening through pretty lousy speakers by reading lips or body language. We're supposed to "put the smile in our voice" because customers can't see it on our face. The accountability is a double edged sword though, because if a customer annoys the employee or makes them cry or get angry, it affects the next customer. Oh well, pros and cons to everything

[Humor_Me]

Actually, if you can't do face to face ordering, this is the next best thing if you have someone who can do ASL. I'll bet they'd pee their pants. Either that, or you could write a note and hold it up to the screen.

[Nomnom]

No, mollywobbles, the stupidest thing I have, and now you have, ever heard of is automatic motion sensor hand soap dispensers. The "attraction" being you don't have to get your hands all germy touching the soap dispenser that others with unwashed hands have already touched. Except... what do you do immediately after dispensing soap into your hands? You WASH them.

[Evie]

This is techno-gadget awesome, but I still can't stomach spending five dollars on a latte. :(

[Mollywobbles]

smileyburgers: That's the reason fast-food restaurants have screens in the grill, so that the grill crew can start making the order. There's no point in having the grill crew wear headsets, unless the order taker misinterprets what the customer orders ("hamburger no pickle extra onion" instead of "no onion extra pickle") - that way, the grill person could conceivably make the correct sandwich or whatever and avoid the customer bringing back the "wrong" sandwich - but even then that can lead to discrepancies between what is on the screen and what the grill person heard (or thought they heard).

[Techtyger]

Bleh. Some people don't WANT an 'experience', I just want my damn coffee. I don't want to be chirped at, I don't want to be upsold. I know what I want, just give it to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZHgHN87GRg
^-- the Arrogant Worms 'Coffee Song'.