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The
innovations also coincide with efforts to kickstart sales as the
Chinese economy recovers from the impact of lockdowns to tackle
the COVID-19 pandemic and as big U.S. companies see China as
their best option for growth regardless of mounting political
tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Users of Alibaba Group Holding's popular Taobao e-commerce
platform, and its mobile mapping and navigation service Amap,
can use apps to place a drink order they then collect at a
store.
Alipay, the online payment app run by Alibaba affiliate Ant
Group, and its local service platform Koubei also offers the
same online order and in-store pick-up option as well as
delivery services.
Previously, pre-order for an in-store pickup feature, called
Starbucks NOW, was only available on Starbucks' own App.
However, customers could also order deliveries via Alibaba's
food delivery app Ele.me under a partnership the two companies
signed in 2018, marking the first time Starbucks Corp offered a
formal online delivery service in China.
Alibaba and Starbucks declined to comment on Monday.
Starbucks has said it expects sales in China, its biggest growth
market, to recover by the end of September from a deep drop
because of the pandemic.
Its online push contrasts with the declining fortunes of local
rival Luckin Coffee Inc whose store numbers outnumbered
Starbucks in China earlier this year until a setback caused by a
fraud scandal.
In May, Starbucks also launched a mini-programme with Alibaba's
rival Tencent Holdings on its chat app WeChat, allowing access
to Starbucks' membership rights and take-out services.
(Reporting by Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh; editing by Barbara
Lewis)
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