Operational Excellence (OPEX) Daily Briefing – Monday, December 08, 2025: Starbucks Is Automating the Coffee Shop: What It Really Means for Operations?
Điểm Tin Operational Excellence (OPEX) Mỗi Ngày – Thứ Hai, Ngày 08/12/2025: Starbucks Tự Động Hóa Cửa Hàng: Doanh Nghiệp Học Được Gì Về Vận Hành?
Welcome to my unique weekday article for the paid subscriber-only edition.
Operational Excellence (OPEX) Daily Briefing – issued on weekdays (Monday to Friday).
Điểm tin Operational Excellence (OPEX) hằng ngày (phát hành các ngày thứ Hai đến thứ Sáu).
This is the bilingual post in English and Vietnamese. Vietnamese is below.
Đây là bài viết song ngữ Anh-Việt. Tiếng Việt ở bên dưới.
English
PART 1 – OFFICIAL INFORMATION
On December 7, 2025, Starbucks officially announced that it has begun piloting a “fully automated store” model at several selected locations. According to the company’s statement, the new model allows customers to self-order, self-pay, with no cashier required, while applying automation technology to serve beverages, process orders, and manage store operations. This is considered a major shift in the company’s efforts to optimize costs, reduce labor dependence, increase operational efficiency, and enhance service consistency.
Starbucks stated that at these pilot stores, customers can select beverages through self-order kiosks, a mobile app, or automated payment devices. Once the order is recorded, the system sends it directly to the automated beverage station, where robots or smart devices assist in preparing, packaging, and readying the drink for pickup. The company emphasized its goal of reducing wait time, minimizing errors, and ensuring consistent beverage quality across locations.
Starbucks representatives explained that the decision to test the automated model stems from the need to optimize operations, reduce labor costs, ease hiring pressure, and respond to new consumer trends in which customers prioritize speed, convenience, and low-contact service. Starbucks confirmed that this model does not completely replace traditional stores, but instead serves as a strategic complement, creating a more flexible operating model suitable for multiple customer segments and various operating environments.
The company stated that during the pilot phase, it will collect data related to service speed, order completion rates, customer satisfaction, operating costs, and the performance comparison between the automated model and the traditional model. Starbucks emphasized the importance of maintaining quality standards, food safety, payment security, and service reliability before considering broader expansion.
According to company leadership, if the pilot proves successful, Starbucks will consider expanding the automated store model to areas with high population density, higher labor costs, or high-speed service demand. The company views this as an opportunity to restructure operations, accelerate digital transformation, and build a high-standardized service model aligned with the evolving F&B market driven by technology, artificial intelligence, and automation.
Overall, information from official sources shows that Starbucks’ automated store model is not just a technology experiment, but a long-term operational–financial–service strategy. Starbucks is evaluating performance, costs, scalability, and customer experience impact to determine whether this model could become a new operational pillar that helps the company increase profitability, reduce labor-related risks, and strengthen competitiveness amid dramatic transformation across the global F&B industry.