It’s the moment all early-morning commuters have been waiting for.
Starbucks just recently announced an ordering integration with Ford’s SYNC3, the automaker’s voice-activated technology powered by Alexa. In a nutshell, this will allow drivers to voice-order their caffeinated beverage of choice while on the road.
It’s the next logical step, really. Earlier this year, Starbucks announced an AI voice-reordering feature available to Android users, as well as on Amazon’s Alexa.
“The Starbucks Reorder Skill for Amazon’s Alexa platform leverages Starbucks Mobile Order & Pay technology,” the company wrote at the time, “allowing customers to order their usual Starbucks food and beverage items as they move throughout their day. Customers simply need to say, ‘Alexa, order my Starbucks,’ giving them the ability to order their usual items from their store wherever they have an Alexa device.”
The in-car version of Starbucks voice-ordering was announced at the coffee giant’s annual shareholders meeting in Seattle, said GeekWire. Chief Technology Officer Gerri Martin-Flickinger said, “It only takes a little imagination to think about where conversation ordering will show up next.”
On the new in-car voice ordering feature, customers reportedly assign their usual Starbucks order in advance and can direct the request to the 10 stores they’ve most ordered from.
Ford, for their part, announced plans last summer to expand its Alexa-powered SYNC 3 connectivity platform, which also allows compatibility of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, to all of its 2017 vehicles.
Alexa additionally has a digital presence, or soon plans to have one, in Toyota, VW and Hyundai models to name a few. If this move by Starbucks is any indication, expect voice-activated coffee ordering to roll out across a number of vehicle brands sometime soon.