---
title: "Starbucks Tests Cashless Store as More Customers Buy Coffee with Their Phones"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/a981cf24-5238-4d6d-a6f3-07b7b4422282
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/starbucks-tests-cashless-store-as-more-customers-buy-coffee-with-their-phones-2705366
category: "Coffee & tea"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Coffee & tea"
published: 2018-01-26T16:11:53.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T03:06:16.736Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/eac5e3b9f743575c3ba031f553efa7db2629.jpg
---

# Starbucks Tests Cashless Store as More Customers Buy Coffee with Their Phones

**TL;DR:** Starbucks is testing a cashless store in Seattle as more customers use their phones to buy coffee. The company has seen a significant increase in mobile payments, with 30% of US payments made with a mobile phone.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2018-01-26. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/starbucks-tests-cashless-store-as-more-customers-buy-coffee-with-their-phones-2705366).*

## Story

Starbucks is jumping on the cashless trend—at least at one store in Seattle. According to a recent CNBC article , the coffee giant is testing out how digital and credit card payments will affect the customer experience and behavior.

"Thirty percent of our payments in the United States [are] done with a mobile phone," said CEO Kevin Johnson. "Over 40 percent is done with phones and Star Value cards with rewards. In China, over 60 percent of our tenders come from mobile payments."

More Starbucks customers are using their phones to buy coffee and the brand has taken notice. The cashless store is just one aspect of the new Starbucks’ strategy to increase its digital innovation with customers that don’t currently use their rewards program. The brand also added mobile order and pay last March.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Starbucks (company)
- Seattle (location)
- digital innovation (topic)
- mobile payments (topic)
- cashless store (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/starbucks-tests-cashless-store-as-more-customers-buy-coffee-with-their-phones-2705366). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/a981cf24-5238-4d6d-a6f3-07b7b4422282).