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.
The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Moving Indoors up on time and under budget.
Regular or decaf (leaded or unleaded in Roadhouse). Small medium large black or sugar milk. Ok, decaf really isn't really coffee, small and medium aren't really coffee and anything but black isn't really coffee. See? Large black regular or "coffee flavored coffee with just coffee in it" as you have to order it not. Should only need to argue about the roast and the origin of the beans.
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