Starbucks understands that establishing the company's digital presence may help boost business performance. With this in mind, the coffeehouse chain hired a Silicon Valley veteran to be its chief technology officer.
Starbucks announced on Tuesday that it appointed Gerri Martin-Flickinger to supervise its technology team. Martin-Flickinger served as CIO of Adobe, where she managed the information technology team. She took important steps to make Adobe Inc. a cloud-based organization. She previously worked as CIO for VeriSign, McAfee Associates Inc. and Network Associates Inc.
It is not the first time either that Starbucks has welcomed a technology overseer. In January, the coffee giant recruited Kevin Johnson to be its president and chief operating officer. Johnson formerly occupied a similar position with Juniper Networks Inc.
"Gerri is a technologist at heart," Johnson stated. "As we continue to shape our global technology agenda at Starbucks, we needed leadership talent with deep experience in cloud, big data analytics, mobile and security to take us to the next level."
In July, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz reported that mobile payments make up for 20 percent of the company's in-store sales. This translates to over 9 million mobile transactions each week.
That is why the Seattle-based company focuses on creating opportunities for digital payments. To expand its client base further, Starbucks teams up with tech companies that help it integrate mobile technologies.
Part of the strategy involves the release of a new mobile app that allows users to buy drinks and food directly from their smartphone. This saves time, as the order can be made before arriving at the coffee shop.
Two other important deals were made with ride-sharing service Lyft and music streaming service Spotify. Clients of Starbucks who use the Lyft mobile app or have Spotify accounts receive stars, which can be redeemed for drinks or food at the Starbucks outlets.
Now, with Martin-Flickinger on board, the company is on course to build up its digital strategy. She will play a greater role in designing and implementing the company's technology agenda.
Curt Garner, the predecessor of Martin-Flickinger at Starbucks, aims to ease her transition into her role. After 18 years with the company, Garner will leave Martin-Flickinger at the reins in November.
