Starbucks is making some changes to its mobile ordering system in order to speed up service.
The coffee giant confirmed to TODAY.com that it has reduced the maximum number of items online customers can order — from 15 to 12.
Additionally, as first reported by Bloomberg, Starbucks app/website users no longer have the ability to add a splash of milk or lemonade to a classic Refresher or the option to order a caffè americano without water, as these modifications already exist in beverages that are on the menu.
The changes were made to improve the ordering experience for customers, reduce wait times and ease the workload for its baristas, according to Starbucks.
Back in October, Starbucks’ new CEO Brian Niccol shared plans to get the chain’s 40,000+ locations back to their “community coffeehouse roots” in a video message titled “The Path Forward.”
“We need to offer a great experience to our customers every single time, especially during the morning peak,” Niccol said in the video, adding that the company would be “reorienting” its work to ensure baristas prepare and deliver beverages directly to customers.
“This is the moment of truth,” he continued. “To succeed, we need to address staffing in our stores, remove bottlenecks and simplify things for our baristas. We need to refine mobile order and pay so it doesn’t overwhelm the café experience. We know how to make these improvements, and when we do, we know customers will visit more often.”
In the time since, the chain has made several changes to operations, including extending free refills to all customers lounging in its cafe, bringing back condiment bars and reversing its open-door policy.
For years, baristas and customers alike have posted online about how the often-excessive amount of mobile orders have negatively impacted their Starbucks experiences.
“I should not be feeling like I walked into a burning building every time I start my shift,” one worker posted in May 2024.
“I should not be asked to stay well over what I was originally scheduled for almost every day,” they continued. “I should not be holding my pee for 1-2 hours because if I dare to go to the bathroom for 2 minutes, everything will collapse on 2 other people on the floor.”
The mobile ordering change has been welcomed by some baristas working today.
“Baristas are the most important part of the Starbucks experience,” Sal Hirsch, a barista from Philadelphia and bargaining delegate with Starbucks Workers United, tells TODAY.com, adding that baristas that open and close the stores every day, clean, make drinks greet customers and remember the names and favorite orders of their regulars.
“Clearly Starbucks executives are hearing us after years of union baristas raising alarms about the mobile order system, understaffing in our stores, and more,” Hirsch says. “Any steps taken to make the mobile order process more workable for baristas is a union win, but more needs to be done. It’s time to finalize fair contracts that invest in baristas and provide the support and protections we need to do our jobs.”
On social media, some workers seem skeptical about the change.
“this literally doesn’t even matter since there’s no cool down on the mobile app,” one barista wrote. “the other day a lady ordered 12 drinks, and then 12 food items, and then another couple food and drink items. this changes nothing.”
“Last week a woman ordered 35 drinks on 5 separate back to back orders,” wrote another.
