In a recent article on USA Today, Aamer Madhani (@AamerISmad) delves into the recent announcement by Starbucks that they will soon partner with Lyft to provide transportation for their company’s workers.

Lately, Starbucks has been actively trying to boost its mobile presence - last month they announced that their new mobile ordering app is active in over 4,000 locations, allowing customers to order and pay for their beverages ahead of time.

With public transportation becoming increasingly unreliable, especially for those working early or late night shifts, workers have started viewing their commute to work as an obstacle. In an effort to ease the pain of getting to and from work, Starbucks officials have identified one or two ideal cities to pilot the program - however, this pilot will not be launched until later this year. Starbucks chief officer, Adam Brotman (@adambrotman) said,

“This is really a learning experiment, but one that both companies aregoing into with high hopes."

John Zimmer (@johnzimmer), co-founder and president of Lyft, backed this up and added,

“Lyft and Starbucks share a lot of the same customers and importantly we share a commitment to doing right by our customers and our people."

This multi-year deal between Starbucks and Lyft allows Lyft drivers to earn reward points, or in Starbucks terms “Stars”, which can be used to purchase food and beverages at any Starbucks location - similar to Starbucks’ partnerships with Spotify and The New York Times. Lyft, which is currently available in 65 cities, will purchase the reward points from Starbucks, which they will then give to their customers for Lyft purchases. Users of Lyft’s app will also be able to give a token of appreciation to their driver in the form of Starbucks eGifts, in addition to  tips.

The future of this partnership has potential to include a delivery service where drivers deliver Starbucks food and beverages. In the words of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz,

"The mobile order and pay system that is now in 4,000 stores and doing very, very well is going to be integrated into a delivery system. Certainly, given Lyft's core business, the opportunity to integrate delivery with Lyft certainly exists."

In the booming sharing economy, we are seeing an increasing prevalence of on-demand delivery companies, from Postmates to Doordash to OrderAhead. Will this partnership be successful or will the variety of choices of delivery services overtake the potential between Lyft and Starbucks? No matter the answer, the sharing economy is increasing convenience for both regular consumers and workers in various industries.