How Starbucks Increased Sales by 16% Using Voice Commerce

Voice commerce and voice assistants like Alexa, are increasing in popularity, and consumers are using these voice assistants for more than just checking the weather or playing their favorite song. Starbucks was one of the first brands to hop on the voice-commerce train, making things even more convenient for their customers and in turn, increasing sales. Now, Starbucks customers can order their coffee hands-free with Alexa as they’re dashing out the door or while pulling out of the driveway, so that it’s ready to drink as soon as they arrive at the store. All it takes is two quick voice commands!

We can all agree that this is a great user experience for Starbucks to provide their customers,  but what is the actual impact on the business? Did Starbucks see a change in their bottom-line results?

Let’s start by taking a closer look at the voice experience Starbucks offers its customers.

Starbucks’ Voice Commerce Experience

Placing an order is pretty simple:

• Customers simply say “Alexa, tell Starbucks to order my coffee”
• Alexa will reply with their usual order, how much it costs, and which branch it will be sent to
• The customer confirms the order, which is immediately sent to the Starbucks branch to be prepared
• By the time the customer arrives at Starbucks, they just need to pick up their coffee and continue with their day!

Imagine just talking to your Alexa and placing your morning coffee order while you search for your keys or on your way to work – it’s really that simple.

Customers can also use other phrases to place their order, for example:

• “Alexa, tell Starbucks to start my usual order.”
• “Alexa, tell Starbucks to place an order.”
• “Alexa, tell Starbucks it’s coffee time.”

How Did Starbucks’ Voice Commerce Solution Perform?

By implementing a voice commerce solution, Starbucks added a channel that is more convenient to use and makes ordering coffee a lot less time-consuming. The results? According to Starbucks, they saw a 16% increase in monthly revenue per user for consumers that used voice to place orders. Once consumers started ordering with voice, they just kept doing it. Based on the data, this is due to order retrievability, which means the number of steps it takes to place an order is much shorter, and the process is easier.

So, while it’s easy to order your Starbucks coffee on their mobile app, it still takes four steps: unlock your mobile screen, open the app, tap a few buttons (we’ll count this as one step, even though it’s more than that!), choose your order, and confirm. This long funnel increases the drop rate, and there’s no way around it – you can’t make it shorter than it already is without using voice commerce.

A well-known statistic in eCommerce is that conversion rates on mobile devices are lower than on desktop, while bounce rates are higher due to slow speeds and interruptions such as notifications and calls. The biggest issue behind lower mobile conversions, however, is the checkout – it’s simply much more difficult to fill out forms on a mobile phone.

Nothing is as simple and easy as just saying what you want out loud.

You Don’t Have to Be Starbucks to Get These Results

Well, of course, Starbucks increased revenue – they’re a corporate giant, right? Wrong! You don’t have to be Starbucks to implement voice commerce and get similar results. With Rep, you can easily offer the same exact experience to your customers. All they have to do is tell Alexa to open your shop and say “Alexa, repeat my last order from [brand name].”

Offer your customers the same experience Starbucks does and increase order frequency and the rate of repeat purchases. If you sell consumable goods, you’re literally just a few clicks away from delighting your customers with a Starbucks-like experience and enjoying Starbucks-like results! Find out how to quickly integrate a voice-shopping experience with your existing e-commerce platform code-free, and have your voice store up in just minutes. Request a demo today!

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