Last week’s WeChat Moments were filled with Shanghai locals posting pictures and selfies in the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery

We tried Starbucks Roastery’s AR game, and this is what we think was written by Eva Yoo for TechNode.

The practice of drinking tea has a long history in China, having originated there during the Tang Dynasty, but in 2017, the practice of drinking coffee builds a new history in China.

For those who are living in Shanghai, last week’s WeChat Moments were filled with Shanghai locals posting pictures and selfies in the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery, which freshly opened its doors on December 6. It’s world’s biggest Starbucks, but other than that, there are many things and features that you can not taste, see or experience in an ordinary Starbucks in other Chinese cities.

Tech entrepreneurs love and appreciate good coffee, as we also summed up Shanghai-based coworking spaces based on their coffee environments. Even though there are many things we’d like to talk about in terms of menus- wine, craft beers, chocolates, bakery products (pastry, pizza), freshly roasted coffee and so many menus that goes over RMB50 (US$7.5) or even RMB 150 (US$22)– and entire coffee roasting process, coffee library and coffee brewing process. But we’ll focus solely on how techie was Starbucks in Shanghai, the city burgeoning with New Retail sites and top destination for VR arcades.

Chinese address: 上海市南京西路789号 （近石门一路）
English address: 789 West Nanjing Rd (Near No.1 Shimen Rd) Shanghai. Take subway line 2,12, 13 and get off at West Nanjing Rd station exit 11 (only line 13 will allow you to get off at exit 11) and you’ll see Starbucks on your right.

Make sure you do these three things. Firstly, take your time. You need more than one hour to explore the Starbucks. Waiting in front of the Starbucks entrance itself takes more than 30 minutes. The security guards in front of the Starbucks entrance will allow only 15 people to enter at a time. Secondly, your budget should be more than RMB50 (US$7.5), because a lot of the drinks are over RMB50, and bakery items are over RMB20 (US$3). Thirdly, you need a fully charged phone. You might have to play with your phone to wait 30 minutes to enter Starbucks, and playing Augmented Reality game consumes a lot of battery.

Also Read: (In Pics) myHQ turns your everyday coffee space into a co-working space

1. Starbuck’s AR game

Now you’re in. Firstly, you cannot miss AR game in the new Starbucks. To enjoy the AR game:

1. Connect to Starbucks Roastery wifi

2. Download Taobao (Starbuck uses Taobao’s AR scanner)

3. Scan the QR code on Starbucks Roastery guide

4. Be patient when loading

5. Start scanning coffee roasting machines and flasks in Starbucks!

The AR game is about scanning over 12 coffee machines and coffee brewers in Starbucks. You can first see the map on the app, and select “AR scanner” on top, then tap the image below to get a hint of exactly where you should go and scan the object or place. There are so many visitors in Starbucks, so you have to squeeze through them to scan the places. After placing the camera on the object or venue, the loading process takes about two to three seconds. In my experience, some of them work well and are impressive, but it takes a lot of patience to scan it right and some of them just doesn’t work well. After scanning two coffee machines on the first floor, and frustrated to see the AR scanner failing to capture the third coffee flask, and I asked the staff to scan it for me, but still no use.

After scanning an interactive image of the copper cask being filled up with freshly roasted coffee appears, and the copper cask, placed in the middle of the new Starbucks is actually the easiest to scan. As I scanned the copper cask, I could see animated images showing how coffee beans are roasted, and when I tapped “More information,” I was led to another page explaining how the copper cask works in detail. Using the AR function to explore coffee roasting process was quite impressive and educative.

Also Read: This startup aims to make Singapore the artisan coffee capital of the world

2. Apply for an electric invoice

 

Other technology attempts in the new Starbucks include giving phone notification when the coffee is ready (if you have paid through either Alipay or WeChatPay), and offering options to apply for electric invoice, a very useful function for those who work for China-based companies and want the company to reimburse your invoice. After paying for your drink, tap “Apply for electric invoice (申请电子发票)” at the bottom, and fill in your company name (invoice title, 发票抬头), tax code (税号), and your email address. The electric invoice will then sent to your email, and you can browse them on your mobile too.

3. Don’t line up, just grab a staff to place an order

 

At West Nanjing Rd’s Starbucks, you don’t have to line up to place an order. You can simply grab a staff in Starbucks walking around with a Windows Surface. They will hand you the paper menu and you can place an order and pay using your mobile phone’s mobile payment options (WeChat Pay, Alipay) or swipe card. If you want to pay by cash, then you need to go to the cashier to place an order. After placing the order, the app will tell you the name of the nearest spot to pick up your drink.

Also Read: Gordi presents online coffee bean subscription

Considering Alibaba’s technology that it has developed, especially its cashier-less cafe showcased on Taobao Maker festival, the new Starbucks could have explored new functions, such as Alipay face recognition and unmanned payment options currently used in some of its Hema stores (盒马鲜生). But Starbucks played it safe for this time, only implementing AR experience at its first Roastery in China.

There was less focus on coffee technology. While Starbucks offers options to its customers to make coffee much stronger and lighter by adding more shots, this could have been done digitally. For example, you can imagine Starbucks coffee machine connected to user’s Starbucks membership card, and records user’s coffee taste.

The most populous city in China with 34.0 million people and the biggest city in the world by population, Shanghai is surely an optimal destination to set up pilot project for multinational companies and brands. Thirteen of the total 20 Hema stores, Alibaba’s new retail store, are operating in Shanghai, Alibaba’s Single’s day flagship stores were launched in Shanghai, and 2016-born Disneyland in China is based in Shanghai.

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