Starbucks has announced the expansion of its Starbucks Delivers pilot to an additional six cities across the United States. The expansion, in partnership with Uber Eats, began on 22 January in San Francisco, with planned expansion to select stores in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC, in the coming weeks. “We know we have untapped customer demand for Starbucks Delivers in the US and starting today, we’re expanding our best-in-class experience to our customers both in and out of our stores,” Starbucks Group President and Chief Operating Officer Roz Brewer says, “We’re building on key learnings from past delivery pilots and by integrating our ordering technology directly with Uber Eats, we’ve unlocked the ability to bring Starbucks to customers for those times when they’re not able to come to us.” The US expansion of Starbucks Delivers follows the success of a test in Miami that began in 2018. Starbucks says the test, in conjunction with Uber Eats, saw strong demand, including repeat business throughout the day and positive feedback from customers. This expansion coincides with the kick-off of a new pilot, due to begin later in January, which will see London chosen as the first European city to trial Starbucks Delivers. Starbucks says its partnership with Uber Eats brings together the fastest growing meal delivery service in the US with one of the largest food and beverage retailers. it will leverage Uber’s expertise as a quick and reliable delivery provider that is already well-established in offering customers a premier experience in a growing mobile and on-demand economy. The partnership will also allow Starbucks to reach new customers who are using the Uber Eats platform, as well as offer existing customers a new method for including Starbucks in their daily routines. “At Uber Eats, we’re always looking for new ways to offer people the widest selection of food they love. That’s why we’re so excited to deliver Starbucks fans their favourite food and beverages in a way that’s as easy as requesting a ride,” UberEverything Vice President Jason Droege says. “Be it breakfast delivered straight to the soccer field or afternoon lattés to the office, we know this partnership will delight our customers.” Starbucks says the global online food delivery market currently represents a US$95 billion opportunity, and is projected to grow by more than 11 per cent annually through 2023. Starbucks now offers delivery service in eleven of the company’s global markets and expects to trial delivery pilots in other countries this year. Starbucks Delivers was first announced in August 2018 in China through a partnership with Alibaba and on-demand food delivery service Ele.me. By the end of 2018, delivery services had expanded to 2000 stores across 30 cities in China, while also being introduced to select stores in Tokyo and Miami. The limited pilot in London will be the first of its kind for Starbucks in Europe and will see a small number of company-operated stores to test and learn from the experience as it looks to scale this option to licensees. Additional global markets with delivery initiatives include India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, Colombia and Chile.
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