Starbucks ramps up retail technology investment as CEO retires
Starbucks is set to deploy new handheld ordering devices to stores.
It is planning to launch Shift Marketplace, an app designed to make it easy for partners to switch and offer shifts virtually, along with a waste and recycling app.
And it will also expand the Starbucks safety Lyft programme to provide rides home for partners after dark.
Plans are also afoot to expand to 55,000 stores in over 100 markets by 2030.
The company announced these initiatives during its 30th annual meeting of shareholders, where it was also revealed that Howard Schultz, who transformed an 11 store Seattle chain into a global coffee giant, is returning to run Starbucks on an interim basis after CEO Kevin Johnson said he would retire next month, following 13 years of service.
“On behalf of the entire board, I want to express our sincerest thanks to Kevin for his leadership of Starbucks,” said Mellody Hobson, Independent Starbucks Board of Directors chair.
“Kevin and the entire executive team stepped up to the challenge of the pandemic and navigated one of the most difficult periods in modern history.”
“The economic certainty provided to partners during the early months of the Covid shut down, as well as during mandatory quarantines, underscores our core values and will be an enduring legacy for the company.”
“During Kevin’s tenure, Starbucks scaled an industry leading digital offering spanning nearly 45 million Starbucks Rewards members in the US and China.”
“I’m so proud of all we’ve done these past two years and how our partners inspired the best ideas to lead us through the pandemic,” added Rossann Williams, President at Starbucks North America.
“We are just coming out of one of the most complex times of our lives, and I’m proud of how we figured it out together, in service of each other, our customers and our communities.”
“And we are going to use this exact same approach as we build our future, the way only Starbucks can.”
