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Now you can order Starbucks from your phone

Starbucks rolled out its 'Order & Pay' mobile app nationwide Tuesday, allowing customers to place an order before they reach the store.

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Mark Lennihan/AP/File
In this July 16, 2015, file photo, a woman walks out of a Starbucks Coffee with a beverage in hand in New York.

Starbucks customers nationwide can now order and pay for their morning brew with the touch of a button. 

Starbucks completed the rollout of its 'Order & Pay' app Tuesday. The app, which allows customers to pay and order before they reach the store, was first tested in Portland, Ore. and slowly expanded to locations across the Pacific Northwest. With the nationwide rollout now complete, most Starbucks stores are app-compatible for both iPhone and Android users.

“Bringing Mobile Order and Pay to our customers is about meeting their needs of convenience and customization at any time of the day,” Starbucks’ Chief Digital Officer Adam Brotman, said in a press release on the company’s website.

The app is designed to reduce lines and wait times for commuters. Mobile users will be able to place their order, pay, and skip the lines entirely. The app even tells customers an estimated wait time at a given Starbucks location compared to others in the area.  

The app isn’t designed to place convenience above functionality. Starbucks is known for customizable drinks, and it aimed to make the app as accessible to customization as ordering in-person is. The company says the homepage is easy to use and speedy, but also offers a look at all drinks on the menu. Subsequent screens offer customers a chance to customize nearly every part of their drink. Fast Company estimates there are over 80,000 possible combinations for each item. 

"We wanted mobile ordering to be an extension of the ordering experience. To do that, we had to offer every possible option," Dan Beranek, director of digital strategy at Starbucks, told Fast Company.

Starbucks has not released information on how much the app has (or is expected to) boost sales, but many are estimating large returns. David Palmer, a Starbucks analyst for RBC Capital Markets, told The Seattle Times that the chain could see as much as a 2 percent boost in sales. 

Starbucks is taking an aggressive move toward the growing trend of mobile ordering. Taco Bell, Domino’s and Chipotle have all put out their own mobile apps that allow customers to order and pay from home in recent years. McDonald’s just released its own new mobile app and has other plans in store for the mobile market.

Starbucks, meanwhile, has plans to use the Pay & Order mobile app to transition into a delivery service in the future.

"... Mobile order will make it much easier for us to do delivery,” Mr. Beranek said in an interview with USA Today.

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