Starbucks and Returns at Drive Up

[starmaster1000]

The Legion of Doom (“Corporate”) announced today their intention to roll out the ability for Guests to:
• order Starbucks drinks, food, and merchandise for Drive Up
• make exchanges and returns at the Drive Up area

This will roll out to some stores by the fall of 2022 as a pilot in select cities.

Link to HQ post: There’s a Latté to Love at Target’s Drive Up in 2022 — Order Starbucks, Make Returns and More - https://corporate.target.com/article/2022/02/drive-up

 

[Guest Avocado]

Reposting what I said in the general S&E thread in the new thread:

“I heard from someone else that Drive-Up returns will only be for online orders, not anything purchased in store. So that should eliminate the “Which Card did I use?” guessing game, and there will be no cash refunds, as if it was ordered online, you wouldn’t have used cash. It will also be initiated through the Guest’s Target app like shipping returns for online orders are done.
In brief, Drive-Up returns are only for Shipping and Order Pickup orders, and their variations like Drive Up, Ship from Store, and Ship to Store. Nothing bough in-store can be returned through Drive Up.

There’s also a rumor about adding Returns to myCheckout (Returnbusting?) but we’ll face that bridge when corporate gets to that.”

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Imagine fulfillment TMs having to be trained as baristas... this will be a mess

 

[IhateOPmodel]

I heard from someone else that Drive-Up returns will only be for online orders

At least in my store a majority of online returns are big furniture items. This will need to be accounted for in payroll as well because they will need to schedule more people to account for longer transactions. I remember once I had to do a carry in return for a king sized mattress, it was out of the box and a pain in the ass.

Imagine fulfillment TMs having to be trained as baristas... this will be a mess

It's more than likely just going to be a Starbucks team member making the drinks. No way will they have the fulfillment team making drinks.

 

[Dream Baby]

This will only be possible in a store that have a dedicated drive up not just a bunch of parking spots with signs.

Our Starbucks couldn't keep TMs even before the pandemic.

Will guests be able to do an online return AND pickup a drink in the same line?

How many Targets have guest services separate from the registers?

I guess that is why they call it a pilot.

 

[starmaster1000]

Drive-Up returns are only for Shipping and Order Pickup orders, and their variations like Drive Up, Ship from Store, and Ship to Store

Even then, I can order a gigantic couch online or heavy and fragile lamps, and maybe even a 70” TV, throw them all in my hatchback and make you return them all in one go, while waiting in my front seat sipping my now-slightly-cold Starbucks drink you brought out to me and I will fill out a survey on, while digging in my bags of laundry detergent and random crap I made you bring out…

All in under 2 minutes goal lol

 

[Anelmi]

Now imagine this in an IGS setup. An absolute nightmare.

 

[oath2order]

Now imagine this in an IGS setup. An absolute nightmare.

Wait I thought IGS got canned

 

[Anelmi]

^ Not at my store. Not yet anyway.

 

[Zxy123456]

Found out today my store will be one the first ones to do this. Im on drive up, what fun this is going to be. Lol

 

[BurgerBob]

I have a feeling my beta test stores going to get this misserable feature

 

[dannyy315]

So how are the Starbucks orders going to be fulfilled? Will Starbucks TMs get Zebras? Or will fulfillment team members have to go to Starbucks to tell them the order? Or maybe a new order ticket system at SB?

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Even then, I can order a gigantic couch online or heavy and fragile lamps, and maybe even a 70” TV, throw them all in my hatchback and make you return them all in one go, while waiting in my front seat sipping my now-slightly-cold Starbucks drink you brought out to me and I will fill out a survey on, while digging in my bags of laundry detergent and random crap I made you bring out…

All in under 2 minutes goal lol

Oh wait! It don’t fit in my car.

 

[Planosss]

I think it’s great, love the innovative decision making that will ultimately lead to more jobs!

 

[starmaster1000]

lead to more jobs

Uhh…………

 

[redeye58]

Seeing how much of the time we have only one barista behind the bar, ain't no way in hell we'll be able to run drinks out to Karen in her SUV only to have her bitch that she wanted OAT MILK, DAMMIT!!!!
Sure, I'll remake it with oat......& decaf.

 

[BurgerBob]

Seeing how much of the time we have only one barista behind the bar, ain't no way in hell we'll be able to run drinks out to Karen in her SUV only to have her bitch that she wanted OAT MILK, DAMMIT!!!!
Sure, I'll remake it with oat......& decaf.

Pretty much that's my fear ... our starbucks gets pretty busy ... and they are staffed... they might need to put a 3rd on to handle just drive ups.

 

[TurgetCirkl]

I am just so confused on how this is going to get implemented. No way in hell are they going to make the SBUX drinks the same time as their OPU pick. ALso cupholder 3 tiers??? This is going to be hell.

 

[Planosss]

Seeing how much of the time we have only one barista behind the bar, ain't no way in hell we'll be able to run drinks out to Karen in her SUV only to have her bitch that she wanted OAT MILK, DAMMIT!!!!
Sure, I'll remake it with oat......& decaf.

They will naturally hire more baristas and more DU tms. Target is on the forefront of innovation.

 

[TurgetCirkl]

Target is on the forefront of innovation.

nice try brian cornell

 

[lucidtm]

So how are the Starbucks orders going to be fulfilled? Will Starbucks TMs get Zebras? Or will fulfillment team members have to go to Starbucks to tell them the order? Or maybe a new order ticket system at SB?

I imagine the guest will place the order and it'll go through to Starbucks.

Drive Up TM's will get the notification that the "guest" is ready for pickup or there, Starbucks makes the drink, and Drive Up will go get it. It wouldn't make sense for Fulfillment to grab it, stow it in a Waco and let it sit there to melt, spill, rot in the pick up area. Not to mention, if the guest decided not to pick it up the drink would just go to waste.

I think this entire deal is going to be a cluster fuck. They don't give enough hours as it is and there surely isn't enough space for more chaos. Our Starbucks is staffed well and still has lines around the corner. The lines will be INSANE with drive up available.

Also, can you imagine the guest complaints with the drive up returns situation?! These poor drive up TM's will have to deal with their BS when it's not a drive up order purchase and they have to come in for any reason. Or, will the S&E TL need to come out to them to explain everything they didn't read before trying to do this return?

Once again, Target corp, thanks for doing things that make lives miserable and make no sense. Please find a more sensible way to one-up your competitors.

 

[SuperTarget]

I know people are having trouble envisioning how this would work with current processes and staffing. I get it from a TM perspective it seems impractical but it’s kinda dumb to jump to conclusions without any details on the system they would put in place or the team that would manage it. A lot of it is still pretty far off. I’m not trying to defend Corporate here, I’m not an inside executive, but it seems like with what we know right now is they are obviously trying to listen to the guest and these are genuinely things guests want and would be well received by guests. Great for the guest satisfaction, it pushes guests to drive up and to purchase more, and those are all things investors love (hence the announcement super early). But you have to zoom out and understand we don’t have all the details to criticize it. Obviously things will change between now and the time this is rolled out but let’s not think about it as this is fulfillments problem or how is the drive up team going to do that.. I’m sure more roles and TMs will be introduced for things like this and it will have plenty of exceptions to it.

im just reading a lot of back and forth and arguing when we literally know nothing about it and it doesn’t make much sense

 

[SuperTarget]

Their investor meeting is March 1 so that’s why they are announcing this 1 week before as a talking point but this is at least a year away for most stores. Just keep that in mind

 

[Anelmi]

I just don’t think guests are honestly clamoring for Starbucks drive up type services from Target. I really don’t.

 

[Times Up]

So if there's a long line at SBux, Karen goes back to her car and places her order there. Then she gets all upset when here order doesn't bump all of the other orders so that she can be next. Yeah, this is going to work just great!