On Tuesday, Starbucks launched a brand new retail channel in China – Starbucks Curbside – by collaborating with Amap, a digital map solution provider, to offer coffee to customers on the road.

The new curbside service is currently available in 150 stores in Beijing and Shanghai, and will be rolled out to more than 1,000 stores in the country over next year.

The coffee house's curbside service leverages real-time route planning and positional tracking technologies to deliver the convenience of a drive-thru with minute precision, said Starbucks.

The technology not only estimates customers' arrival times at designated pick up points, but also automatically calculates the right time for Starbucks employees to craft and deliver the beverages.

The service for customers travelling by cars is an extension of the coffee house's third place from "in-store" and "at home" to "on the road".

Judy Zhang, vice-president of digital ventures of Starbucks China, said: "On arrival, customers only have to roll down their car windows to receive their handcrafted Starbucks coffee on time and with the same quality, along with a warm greeting by our waiting Starbucks partner, just as if they were enjoying it in-store."

Starbucks now operates more than 6,000 stores on the Chinese mainland and is expected to open more than 9,000 stores by 2025 in the market.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn