Grabbing that morning cup of joe just got a little easier, thanks to Square. The company unveiled the ability to pre-order coffee via a mobile app from select coffee shops. The app sends a message to the barista to ensure the perfect brewing time so that your coffee is still hot when you arrive to pick it up.
The Square app uses a location tracker so that it knows where you are. Using this data, it knows when to send the pre-order to the coffee shop, so that the coffee is ready by the time you arrive. The app's prediction also keeps your cup of coffee from sitting on a counter long enough to get cold.
"Traditionally, remote ordering has been difficult to execute for coffee shops because it jeopardizes the quality of goods (i.e. it's hard to take a pre-order for a cup of coffee and have it be hot when a customer arrives)," says Johnny Brackett, a rep for Square "We wanted to focus on building technology that would overcome this obstacle, which we've now done."
The idea is that you no longer have to stand in line to order your coffee, pay and then wait for a barista to make it. When you pre-order through Square, you'll go to the coffee shop, pick up your beverage and leave. The app automatically processes your payment, so you're in and out of the coffee shop in record time.
Even better, if you get the same cup of coffee at the same time every day, the app will save your preferences.
Right now, the app is only available at Blue Bottle coffee houses in New York and San Francisco, but Square expects others to sign up soon. The app is now available for download for both iOS and Android devices.
Square isn't the first business to come up with coffee pre-ordering. Earlier this year, Starbucks announced something similar for its coffee shop chains. The company will soon begin testing pick-up orders from select Starbucks locations later this year. Although that app is not quite ready, the company feels confident in building upon its current mobile services.
Starbucks hasn't released any details or features of their pre-ordering service, but it's a sure bet they will also use location tracking for determining when a barista should brew the coffee and have it waiting for pick-up.
