‘Order Ahead’ Catches on, Making Starbucks Victim of Own Success
- Popularity of mobile ordering has companies retooling stores
- TGI Friday’s also stumbled in early days after launch
Starbucks Turns to Tech With New CEO
For some time now, restaurant chains have been adding mobile order-ahead options, betting they’d be popular with their customers. But even they were caught off guard with just how big of a hit the technology is turning out to be.
TGI Friday’s Inc. mixed up orders, and Starbucks Corp. struggled with overcrowding that scared off regular walk-in-and-pay customers. And that’s likely just the beginning for a technology that’s only now really starting to catch on. Researcher Crone Consulting LLC estimates that in five years half of all sales at quick-service chains will be placed digitally before the customer ever steps on the premises. Today, less than 10 percent of the companies even offer the mobile order-ahead feature.