SEATTLE — Starbucks said Tuesday it’s launching its mobile order program in more than half of the stores it owns in the U.S.
The move follows an initial pilot launched in December in Portland and expanded three months later to some 600 locations across the Pacific Northwest.
The latest expansion means that an additional 3,400 stores in 21 states now have it. So do stores in South and Central California.
Mobile ordering and pay is a key initiative for Starbucks, which seeks to lure more customers into using its app and joining its reward program, whose members tend to spend more at its cafes and visit more often.
The mobile ordering procedure — through which a customer can place an order online using a smartphone and pick it up directly at the counter a few minutes later — also helps cut down time spent in line at rush hour.
Lengthy waiting times have become more of a problem as Starbucks increases the complexity of its menu with food options.
So far, mobile ordering is only available on Starbucks’ iOS app, although the company says an Android app is in the works and will be launched later this year.
The Seattle coffee giant says it plans to deploy the mobile order system in the rest of its company-owned stores in the U.S. later this year.
