Starbucks Corp. customers loaded a record $700 million into Starbucks prepaid card accounts during its most recent quarter, up 39% from the same period a year earlier, Troy Alstead, the company’s chief financial officer, told analysts Jan. 26 during a conference call to discuss earnings.
Starbucks Card sales and the company’s card-based loyalty program “contributed significantly” to the coffee seller’s record revenues during the quarter, Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman and CEO, said during the call. The company’s fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 2.
In the year since the company launched its My Starbucks Rewards program, Starbucks has added 2.5 million new accounts, “driving loyalty and repeat business,” Schultz said.
During peak sales volume periods during the quarter, Starbucks sold 42 of its prepaid cards per second across the U.S., he said.
Starbucks also saw “substantial growth” in prepaid card sales during the quarter through retail channels outside of its company-owned stores, Schultz said, adding that card-sales trends “bode extremely well” for the program’s future.
Starbucks this year will begin to extend its prepaid card and loyalty program into international markets, John Culver, president of Starbucks’ international operations, told analysts. He did not specify the countries or regions.
And Starbucks will push the loyalty program harder in the U.S., Alstead said.
“Despite the clear success of My Starbucks Rewards, we believe there is still substantial opportunity to grow the program, as customer awareness is still relatively low,” Alstead said. “We expect to drive more awareness and usage to enhance communication of the program and its benefits in the future.”
Starbucks on Jan. 19 announced it has expanded its smartphone payment system based on the Starbucks Card to 6,800 stores in the U.S. (
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