Starbucks is set to broaden its presence in airports by introducing more mobile order and pickup locations in 2024. This expansion will include new Starbucks Pickup stores at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and LaGuardia Airport (LGA), as announced by airport concessionaire OTG.
The Starbucks Pickup concept, which allows customers to place orders exclusively via the Starbucks mobile app and then collect their coffee or food to go, is part of the coffee giant's strategy to enhance its mobile ordering capabilities at airports. This move follows less than three years after Starbucks first began offering mobile order options at airport concourses, signaling a shift that customers are likely to notice at more airports in the future.
Launched in recent years, the mobile-only Starbucks Pickup locations currently represent a small fraction of the coffee chain's U.S. portfolio, accounting for only 1% of its stores. At airports, the list of such locations is even shorter, with only one having debuted the concept so far. The first Starbucks Pickup airport location was opened earlier this fall inside Terminal E at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) by OTG, which plans to open two additional locations at the airport next fall.
The process for ordering at these locations is straightforward. Once inside the terminal, customers need to open their Starbucks mobile app, enable location services or manually select their location, and place their order. When they arrive at the Starbucks Pickup location, a status board will indicate when the order is ready for collection.
OTG plans to open Pickup locations in Terminal C at LaGuardia and Terminal C at Newark in 2024. This innovative, mobile-only ordering experience is seen as a fitting format for airports, where customers value efficiency, seamlessness, and dependability.
The expansion of Starbucks' mobile ordering capability, including new pickup-only locations, will provide customers with more options for grabbing coffee at airport concourses in the near future. This approach offers a convenient way to skip the line and, in some cases, earn rewards like Delta SkyMiles in the process.
