Starbucks teams up with Alibaba providing “voice order” service

To fend off the aggressive expansion of its Chinese equivalent Luckin, Starbucks China has deepened its cooperation with Alibaba to blend in the “smart life” advocated by the locals, by joining the service scheme offered in TMall Genie. The alignment avails users the ability to order Starbuck’s drinks and food through voice commands given to the AI assistant, and get them delivered within 30 minutes. The services coverage by TMall Genie ranges from music streamer Xiami Music, e-commerce platform Taobao to food delivery provider Ele.me.