Starbucks will soon let you plan your pickup times

Starbucks will soon let you choose when you want to pick up your Iced Ube Coconut Cream Shaken Espresso.

The coffee shop giant on May 11 will launch scheduled ordering at its North American shops where mobile order and pay is available.

The option is designed to allow customers to plan their visit up to one hour ahead by choosing a specific time to get their mobile order.

The function is designed to help customers whose visits require more planning. So, customers meeting a colleague or a friend at a Starbucks can now have their order ready at the time they plan to get there.

The ordering process fits into the company’s mobile app. Customers build their order in the app like normal and on the Review Order screen select their pickup time. They can choose from available five-minute pickup windows, up to an hour in advance—for instance, 9:10-9:15 a.m.

They then complete their order and show up at the selected times.

The pickup times will reflect real-time availability at each coffeehouse. The function is powered by Starbucks’ Smart Queue algorithm, which automatically sequences and balances orders at the company’s shops, including drive-thru, in-store and mobile orders.

The availability of the function could vary by location.

Starbucks has been upgrading the function of its mobile ordering process. Smart Queue, for instance, was designed to provide a governor for orders coming into the coffee shops, limiting backups when large groups of customers order at once.

It also comes as the company is working to improve speed and operations in its shops. The chain wants to get orders into customers’ hands in under 4 minutes, for instance. It is also working to improve its in-store experience.

Starbucks’ same-store sales have been improving of late as the company works its way out of a two-year sales slump. The key metric rose 4% in the last three months of 2025, the company’s fiscal first period.