Starbucks Expands Card, Rewards Programs Across Brands

One of the first successful adopters of in-store mobile payments and digital rewards, Starbucks plans to launch new initiatives that will expand the company’s loyalty and payment programs across channels.

Starting in April, registered customers who make purchases with a Starbucks Card or through the Starbucks mobile app at more than 300 Teavana retail stores will be able to earn “My Starbucks Rewards” stars for their purchases.

And in May, consumers will earn stars for purchases of Starbucks packaged coffee in grocery stores. These stars can be redeemed for free food of beverages in Starbucks retail stores. The program will include other Starbucks products sold through grocery channels in the fall.

These new programs are projected to increase My Starbucks Rewards membership, from 4.5 million active members at the end of October 2012 to about 9 million members by the end of fiscal 2013, said Adam Brotman, Starbucks’ chief digital officer, in a release that accompanied Starbucks’ annual shareholders meeting in Seattle.

The coffee chain’s mobile payments program generates more than three million mobile transactions each week in the U.S. alone, Brotman said. The company’s success with mobile payments has inspired similar initiatives, as well as Starbucks’ investment in Square, and the inclusion of PayPal as a means to fund mobile payments.

Starbucks was also an early user of bar-code technology, which is considered a more readily available mobile payments technology than Near Field Communication, which is still not used in most mobile devices.