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Starbucks

Starbucks to roll out 'pay ahead' in 2015

Bruce Horovitz
USA TODAY

Get ready to order your Starbucks latte on your smartphone.

The coffee giant on Thursday said that by the end of 2015 it will launch its so-called Mobile Order program across the U.S.

Sandy Roberts, Starbucks strategy manager for global coffee engagement, pours samples of coffee for shareholders at Starbucks' annual meeting in Seattle in March.

But first, the chain says it plans to introduce the mobile order and payment program in the Portland area before the end of 2014.

For Starbucks, it's all about tapping into its huge, Millennial customer base, who widely prefer to use their smartphones to make purchases as well as do pre-purchase research. At the same time, Starbucks has built a massive customer-loyalty program via its mobile payment app. Customers generally like it because they earn rewards such as free lattes and munchies for purchases. An estimated 15% of all Starbucks purchases are made with mobile devices, the company says.

Starbucks is not alone in the mobile payment app arena. Taco Bell is pushing hard to enter it. So is McDonald's. And coffee rival Dunkin' Donuts rolled out its mobile payment app in 2012.

The "pay ahead" option is also intended to help win over customers who might otherwise be discouraged by the lines at Starbucks, particularly during the morning rush.

So eager is Starbucks to nudge folks to use its mobile app that over the holiday season, the company will reward some customers who simply pay with their mobile devices — or swipe their Starbucks cards — with free Starbucks for life benefits. Ten customers will win a daily food or drink item every day for 30 years.

That's a lotta lattes.

"What could be bigger this holiday than winning Starbucks for life?" asked Sharon Rothstein, Starbucks executive vice president, in a statement. "This is the first time we ever offered customers something of this magnitude."

Contributing: The Associated Press

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