Starbucks to your doorstep in 30 minutes is now possible in China
- Starbucks has forged a coffee delivery tie-up in China with Alibaba to take on growing competition
China’s consumers now can order Starbucks through Alibaba’s smart speaker Tmall Genie and have their deliveries within 30 minutes, the latest example of the popularity of on-demand daily services among the world’s biggest internet population.
The two companies announced their collaboration on Wednesday. The orders will be delivered by Alibaba’s food delivery platform Ele.me. A special Starbucks edition of Tmall Genie sold over 10,000 pieces at a price of 199 yuan on Taobao, the e-commerce platform.
“We’re excited to introduce an even more diverse and enriched experience on our platform through Starbucks voice ordering and provide a direct benefit to Chinese consumers within their daily routine,” said Miffy Chen, general manager at Alibaba A.I. Labs, which leads the development of Tmall Genie, in a statement.
Through Alibaba’s Tmall Genie, customers place an order using their voice and can track their order in real-time within the 30-minute delivery time frame. Members will soon be able to receive personalised recommendations when using voice commands to place orders that are tailored to previous order preferences and popular items from Starbucks seasonal menu.
Starbucks fans in China can also listen to the latest Starbucks in-store playlists through Alibaba’s music streaming app, Xiami Music.
