Drip Coffee Line

The idea to create a separate line for drip coffee customers is one Starbucks has considered. In fact, this concept was tested years ago with favorable results.

I spoke with a store manager who tested a brewed coffee line during his busiest hours of the morning and was able to serve drip coffee customers very quickly. The biggest benefit was that these customers did not have to wait behind those wanting espresso beverages or pastries, which can take a bit of time to process. Customers ordering espresso beverages and pastries were also served more quickly since the drip coffee customers were not in their line.

Another added benefit was for our baristas. Having an extra partner on the sales floor was great. When there were no brewed coffee customers, the barista dedicated to this line could clean or prepare the store for other customer needs.

Unfortunately, the challenge with the drip coffee line is that most of our stores are not designed to make it work. Many customers found the two lines confusing and they didn’t always flow well. Ultimately, the added complexity caused by the two lines was not beneficial enough to make this concept a customer service standard.

The good news is, we continually evaluate the layout of our stores and it’s on our radar to consider designing stores to accommodate two lines. In fact, we are testing a variation of this concept in some of our stores now. The “self service brew station” concept places the coffee brewer near the condiment bar and customers simply serve themselves and pay before or after getting their own drip coffee. It will be interesting to see the feedback and results of this idea as well.

I’m a drip coffee drinker and appreciate getting my beverage quickly on my way to work each day. It’s good to hear from customers who feel the same way. We will forward your comments to the partners who enhance our customer service standards. Thank you for sharing so passionately.

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thnksno
8/14/2008 6:32 AM

What might work better... Open two types of Starbucks franchises. Call one the 'Starbucks Smoothie' and call the other 'Starbucks Coffee.' Much better differentiation between the products! I went to a Starbucks one day and thought I was in a Jamba Juice!

Seriously, I can just see your hiring of new baristas now... "You want me to be a 'coffee barista' but instead I'll make 'fruit smoothies' all day long?"

Considering your recent Product Development efforts in the smoothie business it appears that Starbucks has no true coffee drinkers anymore... I don't see why a self serve line for 5% of your customer base would cause so much havoc?

rcpwtljc
8/28/2008 2:54 PM

One line is fine the way it currently works. I don't mind waiting a few seconds for the Starbucks employee to write the drink on the cup and place it down to be picked up by the drink maker.

Carolinagirl
10/19/2008 5:00 AM

Perhaps you could expand this thought process of two separate lines and brainstorm on how to reduce the wait in the drive thru lines.  I can't count the number of times I am time-pressed in the drive thru line - see only three cars ahead of me and think "I can make time for this" only to realize I have 3 food orders in front of me - custom pastries, custom oatmeal, etc. and what I thought would be 2-4 minutes turn out to be 10-12 minutes.  Sounds extreme, but on those days, I often think a "drink only drive-thru" is an amazingly good idea .

JimP
10/23/2008 10:58 AM

Most of the stores I frequent have the person at the register fill these orders. Why not just have a small queue next to the regular one... for Drip ONLY. Those in that queue have priority for next available cashier and can be off on their way very quickly. Again, this morning, I had to wait for 20 people in front of me. It took over 10 minutes just for a cup of coffee. Might be hard to implement in only the most crowded stores.

Flipper
7/13/2009 2:19 PM

Seriously? That was the end of it? It worked GREAT in Southern California. It was only available when folks were backed up and the call went up for "drop coffee orders only?" Amazingly, this town of "simpletons" could figure out that one line was to get the drip coffee folks the hell out of there before they hurt someone! Smiles all around! This is a no-brainer guys. It has to be something that hits the 'Bucks bottom line because it is pure customer service. I remember when that was a priority 'round here.


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