Hilary Russ

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ) The new cafe does not have the usual cashiers.

Amazon’s first-ever partnership location opened Thursday by the global coffee chain.

Starbucks is among the many companies that are coping with a U.S. labor shortage.

White Castle tests a robot fry cooker, while Domino’s Pizza (NYSE 🙂 Inc experiments with self-driving cars for delivery. IBM (NYSE: ) is currently developing an automated order-taking system for McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:).

The U.S. restaurant workforce levels are generally still less than they were before the pandemic. This helps boost margins. Tom Bailey, a Rabobank analyst, stated that this is because overall, U.S. restaurant staffing levels are at least 10% below what it was prior to the pandemic.

He stated that “you’d see some the digital automation instruments deployed to cover that 10% gap” as they grow.

Due to the pandemic, more people ordered online and placed orders for take out, delivery and drive-thru. Starbucks changed its strategy for development to include pickup-only stores in cities and traditional drive-thrus.

Kathryn Young (Senior Vice President of Global Growth and Development at Starbucks) stated that Amazon and Starbucks plan to open three additional U.S. stores in 2022.

She said that Starbucks baristas in New York City will prepare drinks for customers and serve the remainder of their menu. The new Starbucks location will employ the same level staff as other Starbucks locations.

Starbucks offers customers the option to order online and pick up coffee at a nearby counter. Customers can also use their credit cards, Amazon App, or Amazon One palm readers to access the remainder of the space and take food from the shelves or sit down at tables.