Starbucks: Mobile Payments Used in 11% of U.S., Canadian Sales

Starbucks Corp. reports that it receives 11% of its U.S. and Canadian sales through its mobile app, continuing its momentum in enticing customers to pay with the mobile version of its closed-loop Starbucks Card.

"Starbucks is a clear leader in mobile payments and we are encouraged by how consumers have embraced mobile apps as  a way to pay," said Howard Schultz, chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks during an Oct. 30 conference call to discuss the company's fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 29.

Starbucks accepts about 4 million mobile payments per week, and eight million consumers are using mobile apps to pay, Schultz said. The coffee company also plans to add mobile ordering and digital tipping in the future.

"No single competency is enabling us to elevate the Starbucks brand more than our global leadership in mobile, digital and loyalty," Schulz said.

In June, Starbucks reported it handled 10% of its U.S. sales through its mobile app. At the time, Starbucks indicated that this level of adoption represents "significant success" in getting its customers to purchase coffee and other items digitally.

Starbucks launched its mobile card app in 16 stores in 2009, and rapidly expanded the program nationwide by allowing consumers to pay by letting patrons display a bar code to be scanned at the point of sale. Starbucks has also invested $25 million in the mobile-payments company Square, uses Square for processing and sells Square's mobile card readers in its stores.

Starbucks' net revenue rose 13%, to $3.8 billion, in the fourth quarter from the same period a year earlier. Net earnings attributable to Starbucks rose 34%, to $481.1 million, from a year earlier. Its net revenue for fiscal 2013 rose 12%, to $14.9 billion. Its net earnings for the full year rose 24.4%, to $1.7 billion.