Meet The Coffee-Ordering App That Could Replace Your Coffee Maker

Coffee orders on demand? That’s what one application may be promising its users. As Eater noted, Starbucks introduced a partnership with on-demand delivery company Postmates back in December that allowed customers in Seattle to order coffee via the Starbucks app. The new feature of the Starbucks coffee-ordering app comes in the wake of other order-on-demand-style apps like Eat24 and Foodler, the latter of which offers the ability to customize orders and get the hours of any restaurant you’re viewing at the time.

The Starbucks app also introduced new improvements such as a mobile pay feature that lets users fund their coffee order via gift cards which are digitally stored inside the app. Dunkin’ Donuts has also gotten in on the new method of coffee ordering as well. In November, 2015, the coffee-and-doughnut giant’s website announced that Dunkin’ was testing on-the-go coffee ordering via mobile in Portland, Maine, and Dallas, Texas. With this new innovation, coffee drinkers need only download an app called Dunkin’ Donuts On The Go Ordering, punch their coffee order into their smartphone, and they can then pick their coffee order up at a store without waiting in line.

It’s become clear that the way people get their coffee and similar products is changing. As Inquisitr noted, the Keurig Green Mountain Coffee Company was recently bought out by a private company for a staggering $13.9 billion, showing just how popular alternative means of coffee purchasing really are. Does this mean that traditional, brick-and-mortar coffee shops are a thing of the past? Only time will tell.

In a blog posting about the Starbucks coffee deal, Postmates called the partnership “an extension of what customers are looking for” and mentioned that it “offers a convenience that was never available before.” As technology becomes more and more mobile, it makes sense for coffee consumers to have an all-in-one app that they can utilize to order, receive, and pay for their coffee.

One downside to mobile coffee ordering, however, is that mobile applications can be prone to hacking, as demonstrated by an attack against the Starbucks coffee app in May, 2015. The attack allowed hackers to steal the financial information of coffee consumers and drain their bank accounts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlQDttTWM6o

The Starbucks Coffee app for iPhone will also have new features including Shake-To-Pay and a method of digitally adding a tip. Though there is also an Starbucks app for Android, it was reported by YouTube users as being a bit behind on features, and as of a year ago, coffee consumers don’t have the ability to digitally tip on their devices yet. As the video shows, the Shake-To-Pay feature works by bringing up a barcode that users can scan when ordering their coffee. This is similar to the technology behind other similar apps, such as the Dunkin’ Donuts Rewards app and Apple’s Passbook application.

An additional bonus is that some coupon-based applications can be automatically called to your lockscreen when you’re in a corresponding location. So, for instance, whenever you walk into a Starbucks, the coffee-ordering application (and its barcode) can appear on your screen and be ready to go instantaneously. You can also tap the barcode icon that appears to see payment information such as the amount of money left on the gift card and the number of rewards points you’ve earned through coffee purchases.

The Dunkin’ Donuts application works a similar way for coffee orders, and also boasts additional features such as the ability to send virtual gift cards over text and e-mail, and a promotion to receive a free medium coffee or other beverage upon signing up for the app.

[Image Via Kritchanut/Shutterstock.com]