Want to know why it takes so long to get your order at Starbucks? I can give you 170,000 reasons, but new CEO Brian Niccol wants to cut those down as part of his turnaround plan for the troubled purveyor of coffee-based beverages. It also might shorten those wait lines that have grown notoriously long.
In an open letter Tuesday to the company and customers alike, Niccol admitted that "there’s a shared sense that we have drifted from our core" because some stores "especially in the U.S. — we aren’t always delivering" on the Starbucks experience as "a gathering space, a community center." "We’re committed to elevating the in-store experience — ensuring our spaces reflect the sights, smells and sounds that define Starbucks. Our stores will be inviting places to linger, with comfortable seating, thoughtful design and a clear distinction between 'to-go' and 'for-here' service."
Niccol's first step in improving that experience is making sure customers get their order "on time, every time."
That's a tall order. Or is that a Trenta? Whenever my wife orders her beloved Starbucks chai, I have no idea what the words she uses mean.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote that I had no idea until reading a Wall Street Journal report "that there are 'at least 170,000 different ways to customize' your Starbucks order. If Niccol wants to bring costs down, a little less variety might go a long way."
Having a background in science and statistics, I'm well aware of the power of a few different options to multiply into many thousands of options through combinations and permutations. A few different kinds of coffee, tea and chai, a dozen or so possible additives, at several levels of addition each, a few drink sizes. Sometimes it takes more time to specify the drink than to make it.
It doesn't matter to me, I rarely go to Starbucks anymore, when Dunkin' Donuts is less turns off the main road and has better apple fritters.
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