It has teamed up with Chinese tech giant Alibaba to offer an augmented reality ( AR ) experience at its new headquarters in Shanghai . The Starbucks Reserve Roastery is a 30,000 sq ft site that the company bills as the " first fully immersive coffee shop in China " . It includes Starbucks 's first in - store AR experience , in which customers , using an app , can walk around the store and point their smartphones at various features to learn more about them . So our approach to this is investing in elevating the experience we create in our stores, and investing in the digital-mobile connection we have with our customers.” The app also includes a digital menu and allows customers to unlock virtual badges .
It has teamed up with Chinese tech giant Alibaba to offer an augmented reality ( AR ) experience at its new headquarters in Shanghai . The Starbucks Reserve Roastery is a 30,000 sq ft site that the company bills as the " first fully immersive coffee shop in China " . It includes Starbucks 's first in - store AR experience , in which customers , using an app , can walk around the store and point their smartphones at various features to learn more about them . The app also includes a digital menu and allows customers to unlock virtual badges .