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`PATENT OWNER
`EXHIBIT 2008
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`EXHIBIT 2008
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`http://nrn.com/quick-service/starbucks-roll-out-innovations-mobile-platform
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`Starbucks to roll out innovations in mobile platform
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`Company says new mobile features could be "holy grail" of throughput
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`Mar 13, 2014 Lisa Jennings
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`Starbucks mobile moves are part of a larger effort to lead in the use of new technologies.
`Starbucks is poised to unveil innovations within its mobile platform that will include ordering ahead
`and new payment features that the company has called a potential “holy grail” for throughput.
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`In interviews this week, Howard Schultz, Starbucks chair and chief executive, along with chief digital
`officer Adam Brotman, offered a few hints of what’s coming, though more details are likely to be
`revealed at the Seattle-based company’s shareholder meeting, scheduled for March 19. That day,
`Starbucks plans to update its iPhone app to allow a new shake-to-pay function designed to speed
`the payment process, as well as the ability to tip digitally for the first time.
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`The ability to order ahead using a smartphone will also be a key addition to Starbucks’ mobile
`offerings, said Wall Street analyst Sharon Zackfia of William Blair & Company LLC, in a report this
`week. After meeting with Starbucks management, Zackfia wrote that the company is planning a
`significant test of mobile ordering soon in an unnamed U.S. market with the goal of rolling out the
`order-ahead feature in 2015.
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`The moves are part of a larger effort to build on the company’s strength as a leader in the use of
`new technologies to enhance the customer experience. Schultz said in January that he would step
`away from day-to-day operations to focus more on the company’s investment in “all things digital.”
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`Management referred to mobile ordering as the potential “holy grail” of throughput, saying one key to
`success will be estimating the customers’ time of arrival, which will be done with help of algorithms,
`to ensure beverages are hot and freshly prepared. Other chains rolling out mobile ordering, like Taco
`Bell, for example, are using GPS locators to recognize when a customer is on the property, giving
`the kitchen the signal to prepare the food.
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`Zackfia said Starbucks also noted the key challenge of incorporating mobile orders into Starbucks’
`“already-intense” morning operations without slowing down lines.
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`“We believe the speed and ease of the new schematic could not only yield faster throughput during
`capacity-constrained morning hours but also dramatically increase the number of enrolled Starbucks
`Rewards members,” which now represent more than 25 percent of transactions, she wrote.
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`The more Rewards members, she noted, the more information Starbucks will have about its
`customers, their preferences and frequency.
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`Starbucks' app will let customers locate a store, pay their bill and leave a tip.
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`“Starbucks remains in the early innings of mining data to create individualized offers, which began in
`earnest in the fall and is one of the key focuses of the company’s new chief strategy officer,” Matt
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`Ryan, who joined Starbucks in April from The Walt Disney Company, she wrote.
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`The new-and-improved app, to be launched next week, will be available first for iPhone users, but
`later also for Android customers, said Brotman in a blog column explaining the new options.
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`The shake-to-pay feature will help customers use their phones to pay more quickly. With the app
`open, the customer will be able to shake their phone from any screen to pull up the barcode of their
`Starbucks card and make a payment, rather than scrolling through various screens to find the
`barcode.
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`In addition, the new-and-improved app will allow digital tipping for the first time. Guests will be able
`to add a tip of 50 cents, $1 or $2 to their bill — or change their tip amount — within two hours of a
`transaction. Currently guests must pay tips in cash.
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`Coming soon: Digital receipts and the ability to see customer transaction history to print out or
`digitally file for expense reports.
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`Starbucks is ahead of the industry in the adoption of mobile payment. Nearly 10 million customers
`are using the mobile pay app and paying for more than 5 million transactions per week using
`smartphones. In an interview with Bloomberg News this week, Brotman said 11 percent of the
`company’s domestic transactions are handled with a mobile device, and he predicts that number will
`double within a year.
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`And in an interview with Fox Business Network this week, Schultz hinted that mobile payment would
`extend beyond the company’s coffeehouses.
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`“We believe that there is an opportunity to extend the mobile payments that we experience inside
`Starbucks stores to other places within the marketplace — you’ll have to stay tuned on that,” he said.
`“But we are in a unique position. We have had discussions with the leading tech companies who all
`want access to something that we have been able to do” as the leader in mobile payment.
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`“The issue is relevancy,” said Schultz. “You’re going to have to integrate your business in a way that
`people are living their lives.”