Starbucks' customers need not worry about securing their customary morning cups of coffee while travelling the world after the coffee announced its plans to add 12,000 more stores worldwide by 2021. The company said in a press release that its worldwide expansion efforts is part of a five-year plan that it presented during an investor conference, including the use of a new artificial intelliegence (AI) ordering system.

Part of the goal Starbuck's expansion is to increase by two its number of stores to 37,000 cafes all over the world in a period of five years. The company also plans to widen its food offerings to boost its profits, which includes introducing Sous Vide Egg Bites in January 2017, a Certified Gluten-Free Breakfast Sandwich in the spring; and extra Bistro boxes to add to its lunch lineup.

In line with this, Starbucks will use a new ordering system that it calls My Starbucks Barista, an AI innovation to the company's mobile order and pay app. Customers will be able to place their orders via messages or voice command through the app. The My Starbucks Barista feature will be launched first on iOS in limited beta in early 2017 and be made available to more Android and iOS users later in the year.

Also in the press release, Starbucks pointed out that most of its new stores will be strategically located in China where the company operates 2,500 cafes as of current count.

Its current strategy for the heavily populated East Asian country is to launch one store per day. Starbucks believes and reiterated that its China cafes will outstrip those in the U.S. However, some of these stores will not be your usual Starbucks cafes. Instead, Starbucks plans to launch at least one of its new upscale Reserve Roastery stores in Shanghai next year.

Seattle was the first location where Starbucks opened its first Reserve coffee and roasting room in 2014. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, expounds that the place is like a "magical coffee ride," where a person can purchase roasted limited-supply Reserve coffees that sell for up to $50 per eight-ounce bag.

Seattle's Starbucks Reserve Roastery is the epitome of coffee retail experience in the world since it opened two years ago. It provides a levelling up of the Starbucks Experience worldwide. Thus, with the company's immersion in coffee retail, it plans to expand and open its next Roastery in Shanghai in 2017, New York City and Tokyo in 2018, and a fifth cafe in Europe to be publicized early next year.

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Topics Starbucks, Artificial intelligence, Mobile app, IOS, Android