Starbucks Takes Stake in Tech Company Brightloom
23 July 2019 - 6:40AM
Dow Jones News
By Heather Haddon
Starbucks Corp. said it is taking a stake in a digital
technology company to speed up its offering of mobile ordering and
payment options at its global stores to improve customer
convenience.
The coffee giant is making an investment and securing a board
seat in Brightloom, a company founded in 2015 under the earlier
name eatsa, as it seeks to accelerate the adoption of technology by
its stores around the world.
In return, Brightloom will make available to Starbucks licensees
the coffee chain's system for mobile ordering and payment, loyalty
perks and delivery-order management. Brightloom and Starbucks will
also sell access to the platform to other restaurants trying to
quickly adopt their own digital programs, the companies said.
Both companies said Starbucks's stake was significant but
wouldn't disclose the specific financial terms. Franchisees abroad
were expected to be the first to sign up.
Starbucks was one of the first big restaurant chains to invest
in a sophisticated loyalty program, with nearly 17 million members
currently. But adoption of its digital offerings among store
licensees has been less widespread. Less than half of Starbucks
markets around the world now have the company's mobile app, and
only eight have digital payments, according to the company.
Digital ordering and delivery programs are becoming increasingly
vital to restaurants trying to draw more customers amid
intensifying competition.
"It went from something that was nice to have to being table
stakes," said Adam Brotman, Brightloom's chief executive and a
former Starbucks global retail and digital head, on Monday.
In addition to delivery, restaurants are also expanding mobile
payment to make purchasing easier and more appealing to younger
consumers. Mobile payment is still small in the U.S., but is firmly
established in Asia. Thirty-one percent of restaurants offer mobile
payment, according to a survey of 1,253 U.S. restaurants by the
Toast food-service tech provider this year.
Starbucks is facing increasing competition abroad from Luckin
Coffee Inc., a newly public Chinese company that specializes in
delivery and mobile ordering. Luckin said Monday that it had signed
a joint partnership to launch coffee shops in the Middle East and
India that will also employ its technology, which includes mobile
ordering, payment and delivery.
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 22, 2019 16:25 ET (20:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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