Starbucks’ New Mobile Store Should Have Small Business Owners Thinking

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) is finding new ways to integrate mobile technology and artificial intelligence into its stores.

The coffee giant recently announced that it will test a new store model at its headquarters where all customers place their orders and pay via mobile, instead of waiting in line to deal with cashiers.

And a few months ago, the company also began testing an AI barista that could help customers place their orders via mobile. This would potentially mimic the experience that customers might have with a barista. But the conversation would take place in a mobile app instead of a busy store.

Starbucks certainly appears to be at the forefront of companies that use technology to enhance customer experience. While it remains to be seen how customers will react to these new processes early on, it does seem like mobile tech and AI are both likely to have major impacts on businesses large and small.

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Use Technology to Enhance Customer Experience

So even though your small business likely doesn’t have the resources of a worldwide brand like Starbucks, you can still benefit from looking into and potentially testing new technologies to one day integrate them into your customer experience. New technologies often offer ways to improve the experience for customers, and they might even one day come to expect them.

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