Starbucks has launched a new loyalty program that will enable customers to earn rewards for grocery channel purchases that can be redeemed in Starbucks retail stores, a move that is expected to double the number of customers enrolled in the program in fiscal 2013.
Beginning in May, customers will earn My Starbucks Rewards Stars for purchases of Starbucks packaged coffee in grocery channels. These Stars can then be redeemed for free food or beverages in Starbucks retail stores. The program will be expanded to include other Starbucks products sold through grocery channels this fall, according to Adam Brotman, chief digital officer for Starbucks, who also announced that Starbucks’ mobile payment platform is now generating over 3 million U.S. mobile payment transactions per week.
Beginning next month, registered customers who make purchases with a Starbucks Card or through the Starbucks mobile app at any of more than 300 Teavana retail stores will be able to earn Stars for their purchases as well. Starbucks’ acquisition of Teavana closed in January.
These new program innovations are expected to contribute toward a rapid and substantial increase in My Starbucks Rewards membership, from 4.5 million active members at the end of October 2012 to approximately 9 million members by the end of fiscal 2013, Brotman reported.
In January 2011, Starbucks became the first national retailer to offer its own mobile payment technology combined with a loyalty program, and the company now generates more than 3 million mobile transactions each week in the U.S. alone – accounting for approximately 10 percent of total U.S. tender.
New mobile users say they are embracing the Starbucks mobile payment experience because of the benefits they receive and because it enables them to track their loyalty status in an interactive and engaging way directly on their mobile device, the company reported.
