Starbucks and Amazon open automated coffee shop in New York
On November 18, 2021, an automated store from Starbucks and Amazon opened on 59th Street in New York. The store combines Starbucks Pickup and Amazon Go, using Starbucks' mobile order feature and Amazon Go's Just Walk Out technology to simplify purchases. The coffee shop also has a renovated lounge with individual workspaces and extended tables with power outlets and USB ports.
The store is something between a café and an Amazon Go store, which served as the launching pad for the e-commerce giant's cashierless technology. The new store offers Starbucks' full menu and a carefully selected range of Amazon Go food and drinks, including freshly made salads, sandwiches, pastries and snacks.
“The new Starbucks Pickup with Amazon Go is designed to offer our customers convenience and simplicity. Our goal with this new store concept is to give customers the choice of which experience suits them throughout the day, whether using the Starbucks and Amazon apps to buy food and drinks on the go or choosing to stay in the lounge for the traditional "third place" Starbucks is known for”
Starbucks Pickup stores mainly accept orders placed through the company's app before the customer arrives at the store. Customers can place and pay for their order by selecting Starbucks on 59th Street as their preferred location in the app. When the customer arrives, they can check their order status on a digital screen in the store and then pick it up directly from the coffee shop's barista.
“Amazon Go and Starbucks share a common vision of providing innovative, customer-focused in-store services. Customers have enjoyed the ease of shopping enabled by our Just Walk Out technology at Amazon Go, where they can simply walk in, grab something tasty to eat or drink, and walk out to continue their day without waiting in line to pay. We are excited to share the Amazon Go Just Walk Out shopping experience and a carefully selected range of freshly made food and drinks with even more customers at this Starbucks in New York, and we can't wait to hear how customers like it”
To enter the Amazon Go store and take a seat in the lounge, customers can use the "In-Store Code" in the Amazon Shopping app, Amazon One, or a credit card, and then shop in the store just as in any other Amazon Go. Once inside, everything customers take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart. Anything they put back on the shelf is removed from their virtual cart.
After shopping, the visitor can either sit in the lounge area to enjoy a Starbucks drink and food selected at Amazon Go, or head on their way. After the customer leaves Amazon Go, their card is charged, and they can access their receipt within a few hours, sometimes sooner.
The Amazon Go store in this Starbucks Pickup offers a carefully curated selection of customer favorites from both Starbucks and Amazon Go. The range includes freshly made salads, sandwiches, pastries and snacks available for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Among Starbucks customer favorites are breakfast sandwiches and protein drinks, while from Amazon Go, the favorites are Amazon Kitchen Turkey and Cheddar Sandwich, as well as the Buffalo-Style Wrap. The Amazon Go store's range includes products from local kitchens such as Proper Foods, Epicured, Genji Sushi and York Street, as well as local bakeries, notably Dominique Ansel, Magnolia Bakery and Ess-a-Bagel.
Starbucks and Amazon Go plan to open at least three Starbucks Pickup stores with Amazon Go stores, and a second location is planned for The New York Times Building at 40th Street and 8th Avenue in New York in 2022. This new store concept aligns with Starbucks' store transformation strategy, which is built on strong digital customer relationships and the company's app to meet guests' changing preferences for convenience, increasing mobile orders and contactless payments, and reducing queuing times.
The convenient digital experience is complemented by a welcoming, modernized environment, as customers continue to connect in person and choose which experience suits them throughout the day.
Starbucks' rich history in New York dates back to 1993, when the company opened its first coffee shop in the city at Broadway and 87th Street. Starbucks will continue to combine traditional cafés with Starbucks Pickup stores, as well as create new and relevant stores. New York remains a place where Starbucks offers a wide range of experiences, from its first Starbucks Pickup store to the exciting Starbucks Reserve Roastery New York, located in the Meatpacking District.
Over the past year and a half, Amazon has expanded the availability of its cashierless technology. The company partnered with airport stores to introduce frictionless checkout on departure, and in June 2021 opened its first full-size Amazon Fresh grocery store with this technology. Amazon has also added the technology to several Whole Foods stores and, most recently, licensed it to the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's. This partnership with Starbucks is another step toward making Just Walk Out more widespread than ever.
