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Starbucks in Riyadh (Image: invidis)
Starbucks in Riyadh (Image: invidis)

Starbucks: Digital Menu Boards for 11,000 US Stores

The new Starbucks CEO wants to revive the struggling coffeehouse chain by improving store quality, speeding up ordering, and limiting store access to paying guests. Plus: all 11,000 company-operated locations in the USA will be equipped with digital menu boards.

Starbucks opened a net 377 new stores in the last quarter despite a slight decline in like-for-like sales. The company now operates a total of 40,576 coffee houses worldwide, with 53 percent directly managed by Starbucks. Six out of ten stores are located in the USA and China, which are by far the two largest markets for the Seattle-based corporation.

Starbucks in Riyadh (Image: invidis)
Starbucks in Tokyo (Image: invidis)
Starbucks in New Orleans (Image: invidis)
Starbucks in London (Image: invidis)
Starbucks stores all over the world (Images: invidis)

Until now, Starbucks stores have never been as digital as other QSR chains, with poster menu boards behind most counters. Digital signage was an exception for many years, just like in the classic European coffee house that Starbucks was modeled after. That is now to change: Starbucks is introducing digital menu boards in all 11,000 company-operated stores in the USA over the next 18 months, as announced by the company yesterday when it published its quarterly figures.

The announcement did not include how many screens per store Starbucks plans to roll out, but in the locations that already have digital signage, it’s typically two to four screens. According to invidis information, Starbucks did not opt for a standard off-the-shelf CMS.