Seattle & The Empire State Building To Serve As Testing Grounds For Starbucks’ New Delivery Service

When creating a plan to test its long-awaited delivery service, it comes as no surprise that Starbucks would choose its own turf in Seattle. But in a bit of an unusual choice the company also chose a second location: The Empire State Building.

The Seattle Times reports that Starbucks will begin two distinct approaches to testing delivery at the selected locations in the second half of the year.

For coffee lovers in Seattle, the delivery service will be provided by a third-party service called Postmates.

The San Francisco-based on demand delivery service operates similarly to Uber, in that it relies on technology and part-time staff using their own bikes and cars to make deliveries, the Times reports.

While the service will come with a fixed delivery fee, an exact cost hasn’t been pinned down just yet. However, Postmates currently has delivery fees starting at $5 for other merchants.

Deliveries in New York will take on a decidedly different strategy, one Consumerist reported on earlier in the year, called “green apron delivery.”

With this approach actual Starbucks employees will be making the java drop-offs in the 102-story office building.

In order to keep up with demand from walk-in customers and deliveries, the current Starbucks located in the Empire State Building will be expanded to create a separate area for delivery order preparations.

Deliveries in both New York and Seattle are only be available to Starbucks loyalty program members as part of its mobile order and pay app.

Starbucks chief digital officer Adam Brotman says that customers can also use their Starbucks app to monitor their drink delivery progress.

Starbucks to test delivery service this year in Seattle, New York [The Seattle Times]

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