Starbucks, the coffee, food, juice and tea retailer, is targeting the late-night demographic, as several of its industry peers were already doing over the past year. CEO Laxman Narasimhan recently announced a partnership with delivery start-up Gopuff to tap into the late-night and overnight dayparts. Starbucks is conducting a pilot with Gopuff to coordinate delivery orders between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m. Gopuff is an instant commerce platform that brings thousands of everyday products to customers in minutes.

“We saw record results in a U.S. delivery business with growth of nearly 80% year over year aided by our expanded partnership with DoorDash,” Narasimhan says. “We see significant growth for continued incremental growth as delivery represents only 2% of our transactions. In this pilot, Starbucks trained baristas to prepare handcrafted Starbucks drinks and food inside Gopuff’s micro-fulfillment centers, delivering to the customers door in about 30 minutes.”

Narasimahn added during Starbucks’ earnings call Jan. 30, 2024 that the company is “targeting a fully incremental opportunity for overnight orders between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m.”

The two companies first announced the partnership in October of last year. Running in two of Gopuff’s Philadelphia micro-fulfillment centers, Starbucks-trained baristas employed by the instant delivery company prepare food and drink orders from the centers, which are then delivered in approximately 30 minutes to the city’s Old City, Northern Liberties, Fairmount, University City and a majority of Center City neighborhoods.

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