Starbucks experienced staff exhaustion and quietly cut headcount in the early 2020s, leading to higher stress and poorer customer and barista experiences alongside several quarters of same-store sales decline. CEO Brian Niccol, appointed last year, is implementing a turnaround focused on increasing store staffing and simplifying work. A new inventory solution developed with NomadGo uses AI-infused 3D vision on tablets to automate counting, letting baristas aim a tablet at stock and see items light up. Early tests reduce inventory time from about an hour to 10–15 minutes and claim over 99% accuracy, promising tens of thousands of weekly saved hours.
Anyone who has stopped into a Starbucks over the past couple of years knows how exhausted the staff is. Headcount was quietly cut in the 2020s, stress went up, and the experience got worse for customers and baristas alike. ( Six straight quarters of same-store sales decline will tell you exactly how that's worked out for Starbucks.) But under CEO Brian Niccol, who was appointed last year, the company is architecting a turnaround. And Starbucks just had its best week of sales ever.
A couple times a week, an employee will spend about an hour scanning through all of the milks, syrups, and other ingredients, marking down counts on paper so that more of whatever is needed can be ordered and replenished. A new solution developed with NomadGo largely automates this work. Instead of counting by hand, baristas can simply aim a tablet at their stock, and AI-infused 3D vision processing will handle the rest. As items are accounted for, they light up on the screen.
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