We've all been there — you're running late to class, you're not sure you'll make it through those first few dreadful hours of the morning without your double tall latte, but the line at Starbucks is out the door. What do you do? You sigh, and then you listen to the amazing news I'm about to tell you: Starbucks is testing an order-ahead app that will allow customers to place and pay for their orders before walking into the store. If everything works out, your coffee drink will be ready to go without the hassle of annoying lines.
The coffee chain plans to start testing the iPhone app later this year at 150 stores in Portland, Oregon, and considering how many Starbucks customers are hooked into the app world already, it has the potential to be pretty effective. In fact, according to AdWeek, 15 percent of the company's U.S. revenue comes from the Starbucks mobile app already, which seems to bode well for this newest service. And while the app is meant to make rush hour a little easier, I have a hunch customers will start using the new feature to avoid any lines — even short ones.
There are, of course, a few concerns surrounding the app — namely, will your coffee stay hot while it waits for you to come pick it up? And the answer to that question is yes, probably. Starbucks is currently whipping up a solution in its test kitchen, experimenting with espressos that can sit on the counter a little longer than their typical blends. All that's left for the rest of us non-Oregonians to do is pray to the most powerful coffee gods that the test works so that we can have the luxury of ordering our favorite Starbucks drinks ahead of time, too.
Images: Giphy
