Your daily cup of coffee is going to get a lot more high-tech in 2017 if Starbucks follows through with its plans.
The coffee giant revealed at its Biennial Investor Conference some upcoming features that will be available in its Mobile App.
Called ‘My Starbucks Barrista’ a chatbot is to be added that will allow customers to place orders either hands-free with voice commands, or through a messaging interface.
Expected to be available to some beta users in early 2017 on the iOS platform, it is a clear sign that the coffee company is investing time and money into what has proven to be a popular app.
The company said in a statement: “My Starbucks Barista, powered by groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Starbucks Mobile App. Starbucks Mobile App customers will be able to place their orders via voice command or messaging interface, delivering unparalleled speed and convenience, enhancing customer loyalty and engagement and further extending the accessibility of the Starbucks app.”
Starbucks recently signed a strategic partnership with Tencent to tap into WeChat in China.
The company reports that it already has eight million mobile paying customers and a third of its users make use of the Mobile Order & Pay feature.
It’s perhaps this success, and a growing customer base in China with 2,500 stores in operation, that a partnership with Niantic has come along.
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Niantic, The Pokemon Company, recently revealed that it will be making a big announcement on the 12th of December regarding the first addition of new Pokemon to the popular augmented reality mobile phone game, Pokemon Go.
The announcement was accidentally leaked by Starbucks, which posted a notification about an upcoming promotion of the game update.
As part of the promotion most US based stores will appear as PokeStops, or even new Gyms, in the game and that customers that visit a sponsored PokeStop will be able to order a special themed Frappucino.
