Starbucks Is Making It Easier for Overwhelmed Stores to Pause Mobile Ordering
- Function would let managers suspend orders from a store iPad
- Union says protests caused change; company says it’s unrelated
Baristas say that persistent under-staffing and unrelenting mobile orders are leaving workers overwhelmed and overextended.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergStarbucks Corp. is making it easier for employees to pause mobile orders in response to staffing concerns — an issue that’s contributed to repeated protests by unionized baristas.
In January, the coffee chain will roll out changes to an app on its store iPads, adding a “new feature” that shift supervisors and managers can use to halt mobile orders, according to an internal update viewed by Bloomberg News. Reasons for a halt include higher-than-expected volume, or when employee absences are “negatively impacting the Starbucks Experience,” according to the document. When a store disables mobile orders, customers on the app are informed that the option isn’t available there.