Starbucks executives recently addressed the company's worldwide digital strategy, which includes its popular mobile app.

CTO Gerri Martin-Flickinger and China digital VP Molly Liu said during the company's 25th annual shareholders meeting that Starbucks offers the largest and most robust mobile ecosystem of any retailer in the world with over 13 million Starbucks Rewards members, about 9 million mobile paying customers, with one out of three now using mobile order and pay and more than $6 billion loaded onto prepaid Starbucks Cards in North America during 2016.

Starbucks will expand its mobile order and pay to give customers more ordering options by leveraging its skill for Amazon Alexa, announced earlier this year. Now, with the planned integration of Amazon Alexa and Ford vehicles later this year, Starbucks customers with a Ford car equipped with SYNC 3 will be able to order on the go by saying, "Alexa, ask Starbucks to start my order."

Starbucks also shared more details on the expansion of My Starbucks barista, available to more than 100,000 customers across the U.S. Powered by Artificial Intelligence for the Starbucks Mobile App, customers can now place their orders via voice command or messaging interface, delivering speed and convenience.

The chain is also focused on delivering personalized offers to customers via the mobile app, including the rollout of suggested selling and recommendations. Total Starbucks Rewards member spend, for example, is up over 20 percent versus last year, driven by member growth and higher spend per member.

Starbucks also said social gifting is playing an important role in the overall customer experience. With the introduction of the Outlook add-in, customers can gift beverages through Microsoft Outlook. The chain also unveiled the availability of gifting through Apple's Messages app with Apple Pay beginning in April, expanding the platform and offering customers new ways to share the Starbucks Experience.