STRATEGIC PARTNERS
November 8, 2018
Starbucks is planning a major expansion in Japan, opening 300 stores there over three years and launching a series of e-commerce initiatives, including mobile ordering and pay. It has partnered with social media platform Line to develop digital payment and is rolling out delivery Friday via Uber Eats, according to a company release.
Starbucks said the partnership with Line, which has 78 million users across Japan, will begin during the first half of 2019, and includes a mobile payment component.
The mobile ordering pilot will begin in 2019, allowing customers to pay for Starbucks coffee or food with a smartphone or other mobile device, skip the line and pick-up in the store. The pilot expands upon successful mobile ordering rollouts in the U.S. and other markets.
The Uber Eats agreement calls for a pilot of the delivery service in three Tokyo stores, two stores in Shinjuku and one store in Roppongi and plans to scale up the program within two years.
Starbucks said it will expand by about 100 stores a year, on top of the 1,392 stores it already operates in Japan, making the country its fourth biggest market in terms of store count. It will also open a Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo on Feb. 28th, 2019, in the upscale Nakameguro district.
In 2017, Starbucks entered a deal with Alipay to allow the platform to be used at Starbucks locations in Malaysia.
