Starbucks launches My Rewards loyalty scheme
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Starbucks has confirmed the launch of its My Starbucks Rewards loyalty programme in the UK, as first revealed in Marketing Week last year.
The My Rewards programme offers customers the opportunity to become a “Gold Level member” after 50 visits, which results in additional benefits.
Brian Waring, newly promoted vice president of marketing for the EMEA region, says that the scheme could potentially be extended to offer bespoke offers to members and additional levels in the future.
My Starbucks Rewards will replace the current prepay members cards and all existing cardholders will automatically become Gold members.
The launch coincides with the introduction of Starbucks’ transactional iPhone app that allows customers to pay via smartphone. An Android app will be added later this year.
Starbucks says the scheme, which awards one “star” per purchase, “rewards loyalty, feels personal, and is easy to understand”. Members receive a free drink for every 15 stars collected.
The launch will be promoted by a “significant” press, digital, and social media campaign using the schemes black and gold star creative as well as in-store activity to attract new members.
The programme has already been running in the US and Canada and is the latest initiative Starbucks has introduced to “add further value and give customers more reasons to choose Starbucks” and follows the introduction of free wifi and downloads.
Ian Cranna, the new vice president of marketing for Starbucks UK, says: “We’ve listened carefully and we know that now, more than ever, customers are looking for extra value. This scheme also allows us to be more personal, rewarding the most frequent customers with extra benefits. We also know that fewer customers want to use cash, so putting My Starbucks Reward on mobiles offers a faster, easier way to pay.”
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Readers' comments (14)
Zac | Thu, 5 Jan 2012 3:15 pm
I've just looked at my S.B. account online...
They've basically ignored the "customers want value" idea.
Previously just by having the loyalty prepay card you received free shots and other 'perks' that are now offered only to those people who get 50 stars in a year.
I'm a student and got the loyalty prepay card for the free flavoured shots, I only ever go to Starbucks as a treat, or meeting a lady friend. There's no way I can afford to go almost once a week.
I feel pretty cheated that the rewards I used to get just for having the prepay card I can only get for a year and if I want them next year I need to buy 50 coffees, which would come to around £120.
Not impressed by this move, Starbucks.
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rosie baker | Thu, 5 Jan 2012 4:20 pm
Don't feel too cheated Zak, as an existing member, you're automatically qualified as a Gold member which means you'll get exactly the same benefits, without having to visit an additional 50 times or buy 50 drinks, but you DO get a free coffee every 15 visits.
You probably have got/will soon get an email telling you "As a thank you for being a current Starbucks cardholder, we're making you Gold right away."
But if you want more info, have a read of the Q&A feature I've just done with Starbucks marketing director - he explains it a bit more. (it's a related link to this story)
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Zac | Thu, 5 Jan 2012 7:04 pm
Hi Rosie,
Thanks for responding, I understand that. My problem is that, although I become a Gold Member straight away, that only lasts a year, then if I want to continue that I need to buy 50 Starbucks and have to do so by this date 2013.
The thing is that the perks for Gold members were given to you before just by being a pre-pay customer, there was no loyalty scheme behind it, you just topped up your card and straight away got all the rewards, without having to buy 50 products a year to 're-new the membership' as it were...
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Anonymous | Thu, 5 Jan 2012 8:57 pm
The Rewards programme is a step back for loyal customers. Previously, a free tall drink was offered if a customer bought a bag of coffee using a Starbucks card. This deal encouraged so many to visit, but has now vanished.
Also, the new reward of a free drink every fifteen visits is not good value compared to what is offered by Starbucks' competitors.
The reward scheme is a worse deal for existing card holders and provides even fewer benefits for those using new cards. Please reverse the negative changes and improve the rewards offering.
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Anonymous | Fri, 6 Jan 2012 4:20 am
Good move we have always requested this loyalty program in middle east
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Anonymous | Fri, 6 Jan 2012 10:09 am
For me personally - an AWFUL scheme. As a simple coffee drinker - no syrups, soya, whipped cream etc etc - I'm £240 worse off a year as the basic filter coffee discounts no longer apply. Quite simply... I'll be changing my coffee habits. Cheerio Starbucks from me.
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Ger | Fri, 6 Jan 2012 10:49 am
I agree with Zak they have ignored the “customer wants value”
Last year when we used the starbucks card we were rewarded for every drink we bought ie received 50p off now we are being rewarded for the number of times we use the card. This is going to cost me over £120 extra per year and all I will be reward with are 16 free tall coffees, which cost £16.....it does not look like rewarding loyal customers to me!
I love the fact too that the VP of Marketing - Quote - "the reason we launched this structure in the UK is learning from customer research" - where, when and who!!!
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Anonymous | Fri, 6 Jan 2012 3:56 pm
I think it is always good to see how these loyalty/reward schemes are being taken by regular people (not marketeers). When I met friends for coffee today their initial reaction was "sounds like a lot of hassle". These people are used to the simple premise of the reward schemes like Cafe Nero, 9 stamps and then a free coffee. Starbucks makes you have 15 AND you have to put money on your card. With a purse/wallet full of loyalty cards these days they tend to go for the simplistic ideas were you can really see what you are getting. With Nero I can tell you without looking I have 7 stamps, I can also tell you that I go to Starbucks a couple of times a week and I have a Starbucks card that has never left my purse except for a brief 2 weeks at the start of its life.... somehow I feel like this has just missed what it needs to be.
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Anonymous | Sun, 8 Jan 2012 12:03 pm
My thoughts on the new loyalty scheme, as emailed to Starbucks. Lots of people are quite upset, as can be seen by the comments on their facebook wall: http://www.facebook.com/starbucksuk
Dear Starbucks
The more I read about your new loyalty scheme, the more ridiculously badly thought out it seems to be. As someone who doesn't drink any sort of regular tea, coffee or hot chocolate, your Chai Tea Latte is the only drink I enjoy out in any high street coffee house, and as such I am an extremely loyal customer who never previously used my Starbucks card as I did not benefit from any of the rewards on it.
Consequently, you might imagine I would be pleased by the change - I will now get a free drink after every 15 visits, where before I received no benefit. And yes, in principle, this is great for me, just so badly handled it's staggering given that you presumably paid someone good money to come up with it.
Firstly, people who were using the old benefits are understandably annoyed about loosing them. I think we can just about understand that some of these - extra shots and the like - really cost you money, so perhaps should be "earned" by regular spenders from whom you make decent profits over all, rather than being available to someone who pops into a Starbucks once a year & happens to have a Starbucks card. So far, not *too* bad.
However, the total removal of the 50p off filter coffee is a huge blow to those who drink it regularly, and if this is people's drink of choice I think you should expect to loose them as customers to cheaper options of compatible quality, which do exist on the high street. Unless you were loosing money on the cheap filter coffee, which seems most unlikely, this seems to be a very bad business decision, and, as the state of your facebook wall shows, a PR disaster. People are very angry about it.
More importantly to my mind, when allergies can be a serious issue, the decision to make a swap from dairy to soya milk an earned bonus is quite frankly inexcusable. I don't know anyone who chooses soya unless allergies or a serious lifestyle choice (veganism) forces them to. Do you really want to drive these customers away by effectively telling them that they are not valued, & forcing them to pay extra for the privilege of having an allergy? I cannot believe that the hordes of people demanding a free swop to soya milk because they are allergic to dairy are really bankrupting Starbucks.
Finally, let us turn our attention to the actual reward scheme from which I as a loyal, but non-coffee-drinking customer, will finally benefit after many years of total neglect. One free drink after 15 drinks would make sense. But one free drink after 15 "stars" is madness. I, like all your other card holders, will now be insisting on paying for every drink - in fact every item - separately in order to make sure I get all the stars I am entitled to. Now, when going to Starbucks, not only will I first have to load my card with money (sorry, but I refuse to leave cash on the card where I can't use it for anything else or ever reclaim it if, for example, you were one day to stop selling the only drink I enjoy), adding one pointless transaction to the process, I will then make one transaction for each item bought. When a regular lunchtime visit for me and my husband is two drinks, two paninis, and two cakes, that's a total of 7 transactions for one visit. With every card holder doing the same, what do you expect this to do to your queues, and the satisfaction of customers who are having to wait 7 times as long behind me?
I am quite staggered that Starbucks think this is a sensible way to go about rewarding their customers. A points card like any supermarket would be so much easier and less contentious all round. Boots pharmacy offer a most excellent loyalty card scheme, which you might want to check out (since presumably whoever put this debacle together didn't bother to do any sort of research on other, good schemes or surely they would have come up with something better). Every time you spend money in store you accumulate points on your card. The points can then be used to pay instead of cash on a future visit. It is quick, simple and efficient, and rewards everyone who spends the same amount of money with you equally, regardless of whether they like filter coffee or shots or want a free drink every so often. No loading of cards, no counting of transactions, just a nice, simple, money back for money spent reward scheme.
Putting together a sensible and fair reward policy is not rocket science. Seriously, Starbucks, sort it out.
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Lorna Shields | Sun, 8 Jan 2012 8:17 pm
I loved my starbucks card, it encouraged me to visit starbucks over other coffee houses. the main benefits being a coffee for £1 and the free drink with a bag of beans. I was a huge fan of these perks which meant I visited starbucks exclusively. What a cheek to send me an email 'great news from starbucks' this is not great news for me! last week 16 coffees cost me £16, this week 16 coffees will cost me £22.50 as I'll get one free. It's basic maths - this is not rewarding!
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