Starbucks wants you to stay awhile – but shuttering its mobile-only pickup locations could be a risky move
- Written by Vivek Astvansh, Associate Professor of Quantitative Marketing and Analytics, McGill University
When Starbucks announced that it would phase out its mobile-order pickup-only locations beginning in 2026, it raised a question: Why abandon a format seemingly built for speed and efficiency?
As Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol explained the decision in an earnings call, the pickup-only stores had a “transactional” feel, lacking “the...