Starbucks Mobile Orders Bring Traffic Jams to Pickup Counter
- Snags contributed to company’s lower-than-expected sales
- Coffee giant working to correct problem, operating chief says
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Starbucks Corp.’s much-ballyhooed mobile-ordering system has brought a painful side effect to the coffee giant: traffic jams at the pickup counter.
Because customers are now able to order and pay for coffee via their phones, many of them now head directly to the part of the cafe where beverages are handed out. That’s created pileups at Starbucks and frustrated some customers enough that they’ve canceled their orders, said Chief Operating Officer Kevin Johnson.