Picking Up Your Starbucks Order Might Get Easier

Fellow caffeine addicts, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the technology needed to teleport sweet, sweet espresso from the nearest coffee shop and straight into your shaking, under-caffeinated hands hasn't been developed yet. The good news is that Starbucks is testing curbside pickup at a store in Snoqualmie, Washington, which is about as close to latte teleportation as we can get right now.

According to Eater, curbside pickup is an extension of the mobile order and pay section of the Starbucks app, which allows users to, well, order and pay on their phones before waltzing up to the counter and snagging their Chile Mocha (or some other drink that's probably inferior because Chile Mochas are the elixir of life). But if the prospect of even that minute amount of human interaction is too much for you, curbside pickup is a dream come true. Like the mobile ordering that's been in place for more than a year now, you still order and pay on the Starbucks app. Once you arrive, however, a barista meets you outside with your order — you don't even have to get out of the car, let alone go inside. It's a coffee-addicted hermit's dream.

At least, that's the idea. Right now, the service is only available at a single store: The Snoqualmie Ridge location in Snoqualmie, Washington. There are some stipulations; according to Refinery 29, customers park at a designated curb next to the store, so baristas don't have to search for your car in the parking lot. (The Snoqualmie Ridge location doesn't have a drive-thru.) Although the mobile ordering function has proven to be fairly popular with customers — in January, Starbucks said it processes more than six million preorders per month — curbside pickup doesn't seem to be doing particularly well so far. One barista told Eater that on the day it launched, only around five people used the service.

The success of other curbside services has been mixed in the past. Target shut down its curbside pickup earlier this year, but Walmart and Kroger both still offer their versions. Starbucks' curbside pickup still has several weeks left in its testing, so maybe it will end up more popular as time goes on. If not, we'll have to go back to getting our Pumpkin Spice Lattes the old-fashioned way: Squinting at the illegible names on the cups and hoping you're taking the right one from the counter.

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