Bearing in mind how generally unpleasant it can be to order any meal through one's vehicle, the biggest coffee chain in the world is hoping to make the ride a bit more joyful by adding video service to Starbucks' drive thru, so customers can see their baristas' faces while they order from their cars.
From here to the next 12 months, 2,400 of Starbucks' drive thrus in the U.S. will have the video service allowing drivers to see the face of the barista taking their order a few feet ahead, making the experience a cozier one - or probably making sleepy coffee takers a little bit awkward in their morning drive to work.
According to Fortune, before the decision to expand the new Starbucks drive thru technology throughout the country, the chain had tested it on its home state of Washington beginning about two years ago in an attempt to make the experience closer.
As Eater reports, the new video screens on Starbucks' drive thrus are part of an attempt to "revamp a decades-old ordering system," and the new video one will not only show the baristas while they're taking the orders but also a final glimpse at what the customer's ordering right before they pay.
The whole thing sounds like something right out of "The Jetsons"!
According to Bloomberg, the new Starbucks drive thru is in tune with the company's tech ventures, as it comes only a few months after their widely successful mobile ordering services in the U.S. and Canada through their own app, besides recently announcing they'd be teaming up with Apple to accept Apple Pay in the next year, along with other chains such as KFC and Chili's.
The new Starbucks drive thru will be available through the next year, as the company becomes increasingly in tune with new technologies to enhance patrons' levels of comfort with the brand.
