Starbucks Adds Voice-Ordering Feature to iPhones, Amazon's Alexa

Starbucks Corp. will begin letting customers order via voice on their iPhones and Amazon.com Inc.'s Alexa system, a bid to bolster its tech capabilities even as the rapid evolution brings headaches to the coffee chain. The new capability works with the barista feature on the Starbucks' app, which relies on artificial intelligence to interact with customers. Customers can talk with the software in the same way they would order coffee at a store, Starbucks said in a statement Monday. "The use of mobile order and pay continues to accelerate," Chief Operating Officer Kevin Johnson said in an interview last week.