Starbucks’ app is down on the first day of the chain’s holiday menu

Some Starbucks customers couldn’t order through the chain’s mobile app on Thursday.

Some Starbucks customers could not place orders through its mobile app on Thursday, the first day of the coffee chain’s holiday menu.

Dozens of Starbucks app users posted on social media early Thursday saying that they weren’t able to order beverages or buy merchandise, such as the company’s reusable cups, through the app. Instead, users got a message directing them to place their order at a Starbucks store.

The message that some Starbucks app users saw on Thursday.

Downdetector, a website that tracks website outages, showed a spike in user reports of problems with the Starbucks app around 8 a.m. ET — a busy period at many Starbucks cafés as customers stop by for their morning cup of coffee. B-17 employees in Washington, DC, and New York City could not use the app.

The exact scale of the outage wasn’t clear. Starbucks declined to comment on the outage to B-17, though it did respond to customers on X, saying the company is “currently experiencing a temporary outage of the order ahead and pay feature in our app. We continue to welcome and serve customers in our drive-thrus and stores.”

Thursday is the first day Starbucks’ holiday offerings are on sale. They include a gingerbread-flavored chai as well as holiday-themed merchandise such as tumblers and mugs.

The Starbucks app being down the day you drop the holiday menu is criminal lol

— Mrs. Gould 🖤 (@elliott_harmony) November 7, 2024

Starbucks has grown orders through its app over the past several years, but some store employees have told B-17 that they have been overwhelmed by the number of mobile orders at times, especially when customers customize their drinks.

Brian Niccol, who became Starbucks’ CEO in September, said last month that he would put “guardrails” on mobile orders to simplify the process for baristas.