星巴克 (Starbucks) 顧客手機訂餐的優點

Mark Wilson, Starbucks Kills Its Line With An App, fastcodesign, September 22, 2015.

顧客使用 app 訂餐屬於聯合製作 (coproduction) 的行為，是服務業的特色之一。優點當然是可以精準且快速地了解顧客的訂單，並加以客製化 (customization)。

Any drink you select features a deep customization screen with every possible option inside, in a long list of toggles and subcategories that looks straight out of iOS Settings. That’s right, every possible option. Because Starbucks is so customization-focused, every drink has to be orderable in every conceivable way. This means there are over 80,000 potential combinations for each menu item.

It's absurd, yes, but absurd by design. This hyperspecific customization means you can count your packets of Equal and sugar. You can specify your pumps of PSL flavor. Dustings of chocolate powder, vanilla powder, sea salt topping, or cinnamon dolce can be dropped on top of anything. You can even tell the barista to prepare your drink upside down, with the cream on the bottom and espresso poured over top.

有了明確的訂單，便可以據此計算完工所需的時間。顧客再根據通知的時間取物，以縮短排隊的時間。也可以進一步做到負載平衡 (load balance)，引導顧客到人較少的門市。

For Starbucks, it’s a way to reduce "line anxiety," which the company believes is eating into sales. Dan Beranek, the company’s director of digital strategy who is leading mobile rollout, tells me that when you couple a line with a commuter walking a block or two out of their way to grab a drink, it can add up to a daunting 15 to 20 minutes for a customer. Coupled with the fact that Starbucks can actually make more money per transaction by channeling customers to order via an app, increase order accuracy by making customers validate every part of their order, and even one day, load-balance stores by shunting customers to emptier locations, the update becomes a no-brainer. (These same reasons are why companies like McDonald’s and Chipotle are both working on mobile-based ordering strategies, too.)