Starbucks Employee Shares Important Tips For Drive-Thru Patrons

Some customers enjoy spending time at their local Starbucks after getting their coffee. After all, based on its website, Starbucks' goal is to be the "third place" where the community can gather. However, some customers just don't have the time to hang out and place their order to go at the drive-thru instead — they need their caffeine fix and they need it now! One problem? Starbucks ranks as one of the slowest fast food drive-thrus in the country. According to Bloomberg, although 80% of new Starbucks cafes in the US now have drive-thrus, they lag significantly behind their competitors, with an average order time of 4.44 minutes at a Starbucks drive-thru compared to 2.90 minutes and 3.00 minutes at Dunkin' Donuts and Wendy's, respectively.

In an effort perhaps to cut down on that dismal average order time and help everyone out from barista to customer, particularly as we head into the busy holiday season, a Starbucks employee on Reddit recently shared some important tips for drive-thru patrons to help streamline the order process and get their orders faster, because who doesn't want to save time and get their fix faster?

The Reddit post showcases a photo of a Starbucks drive-thru sign titled, "Help us be faster and amazing" with four tips: (1) "Order pastries and sandwiches first"; (2) "Start with the size of your drink so we don't miss it"; (3) "Reload your Starbucks card before you get to the window"; and (4) "Have payment ready." Most of these tips are pretty self-explanatory, though several Redditors did ask, "why food first?" As another Starbucks employee explained, "Since most food items take like 45s to heat up it's important to get them in the oven as soon as possible so it's ready when you pull up to the window."

Some Redditors took the post's message to heart. "Appreciate the tip on how to be a better customer! The folks at the Starbucks I frequent regularly are always so kind and friendly that I'm happy to do what I can to try and make their job a bit easier." Hopefully, more customers will adopt that attitude and these tips. Not only will they make the lives of Starbucks workers easier, they will also get their orders faster, and help the drive-thru line move along, making it a win-win-win all around.