Starbucks iOS App Puts Loyalty First With New Rewards Features

[ArtOfWarfare]

They made changes in the Birthday Reward also, you need 2 birthdays per year to get 1 free drink.

That's because of how many people game these systems. If you know anyone who doesn't go to a particular place, you sign them up for the rewards program, too. You go on their birthday and get their free item in addition to going for your own birthday to get your own free item.

I know multiple people who have set up multiple Perks accounts with Dunkin Donuts by doing this.

 

[Rocco83]

But people abused it. I don't know how many times I would see people buy a small coffee and then "decide" to get a cake pop and hand their phone to a friend buy another low cost item.

This was me when I was feeling nice and decided to bring everyone at work their favorite beverage in the morning. If I was going to pay $5 for a coffee for 10-15 people, I would ring each one through individually to get the star for each one. Why should I get 1 star for a $50-75 order when the guy behind me getting a tall black house coffee for $2 get 1 star.

I was just lucky that the girls working at my Starbucks realized the system was as broken as I did and had no issue doing it. More often than not when they would see people getting large orders they would suggest they did it as I had. They weren't making any more money one way or the other and had no issue passing a little savings onto the customer.

I am not one to complain about free stuff. I am one to complain about the guise of free stuff that isn't so free.

 

[dke11ett]

But people abused it. I don't know how many times I would see people buy a small coffee and then "decide" to get a cake pop and hand their phone to a friend buy another low cost item.

And I am one of those people.

SB is already overpriced as it is. So why not take advantage of the ability to get free rewards? Your logic makes no sense, we are still paying them an absurd amount of money. Then when you redeem your free drink always go north of $5. Heck, why not throw in soy, iced, etc. or you can opt for the $7.99 sandwich!
[doublepost=1460554612][/doublepost]

I don't think it is $63 MORE, but $63 total (or, more precisely, $62.50). You always had to spend something...



I've seen countless claims online where people were buying a 50¢ chocolate on 30 transactions to get gold, then continuing for free drinks. This is abuse, and it is this type of abuse that prompted the change, though you will never hear them publicly admit it.

Obviously, loyalty programs are all designed to help the company. It is designed to draw you in more often. So what? If it also helps the customer save a little in return, is that a bad thing? Plus, it is still your choice to go or not. Why must the popular line be "companies are evil" and "they are trying to screw us" all the time? But that person buying 30 50¢ chocolates isn't abuse or trying to screw Starbucks?



This. Exactly. For people like me, who often spent more that $5 per visit? I won't be hurt. I will spend the same, and maybe be slightly ahead.

If you insisted that every item get rung up as a separate transaction? You're losing out, but you were abusing the system, you were costing the company money, as separate transactions do cost more than a single one, and take more time, causing longer lines for us all.



Where do you get this $150?? Source, please. I believe it is $62.50.



SO FALSE! The simple math that escapes you is that this will in no way hurt ALL customers, because most of us didn't ring every item up separately because we aren't jerks trying to game a system, and making the line take longer.

Or when mobile ordering, send all 4 drinks in as a separate order. Not abuse, just intelligent. Now they have put a stop to it. Fun while it lasted.

I'll be sure to visit local coffee shops wherever I travel now.

 

[Terrinb]

But people abused it. I don't know how many times I would see people buy a small coffee and then "decide" to get a cake pop and hand their phone to a friend buy another low cost item.

How is that abusing it? Starbucks made two sales under your example. Further Starbucks didn't disallow what you describe. There was no reason to hand the phone over to somebody else. I'd buy two expensive coffees and ask for them to be rang up separately regularly. If Starbucks was concerned about that it could have limited the amount of rewards you could receive in a certain period of time.

More importantly the cost of the free award is close to nothing as the mark up is huge.

You can go to Mcdonalds and buy six drinks of any price and get your seventh free. McDonald's counts your free one towards the six needed to get the next free drink.

Starbucks is not the only game in town. I've already switched.

 

[spencers]

Find a local coffee shop instead. They're likely going to brew something much better and tastier than the burnt coffee/espresso Starbucks serves! Points if you recognize my avatar.

Even when traveling I seek out the local places. It has been fun finding different lattes instead of getting the same 'ol at Starbucks.

 

[DrwMDvs]

Well Starbucks, it's been a good run...

 

[ralphdaily]

Good review. The new app is the best SB has ever had. Glad someone focused on the app. As to the program, I'll earn rewards about as often as I do now since I'll get credit $'s spent such as for food rather than transactions. Also I won't be delayed in line by the person in front splitting into separate transactions for points which was unbelievably annoying to people behind them.

 

[WigWag Workshop]

Find a local coffee shop instead. They're likely going to brew something much better and tastier than the burnt coffee/espresso Starbucks serves! Points if you recognize my avatar.

Even when traveling I seek out the local places. It has been fun finding different lattes instead of getting the same 'ol at Starbucks.

We have a local coffee house that I stop at, they don't have an official loyalty program, but every so often they will say "This one's on the house"

 

[merkinmuffley]

Although I usually buy lattes (need more caffeine) at $5.35 a cup, even I don't like the new program. I also feel no compelling desire to go there either.

This change got me off Starbucks, I'm saving about $40 a month because of this program. I've stopped auto reload on my card, buying their coffee drinks and their beans. I'm not alone, this change drove a lot of people over the edge. The interesting thing is I've found local shops that make good coffee and have WI-Fi.

 

[dannyyankou]

It works out great for me, but it screws over people that just go in for a cup of coffee in the morning before work. Now they need to spend more the get the same rewards they've been getting.

 

[swajames]

The problem in the past was that Starbucks only awarded a star for each transaction. A single purchase of three lattes at over $15 would result in the same number of stars as the purchase of one $2 coffee. The new system is arguably fairer on one level as it's spend based but overall it's a pretty big downgrade and quite honestly is now a disincentive program rather than an incentive program.

 

[imwoblin]

In my humble opinion, a merchant's loyalty program should be based on loyalty and nothing else. If I drive by 5 coffee shops every morning and stop at Starbucks to purchase a Grande Sumatra, I should be rewarded for that, not how much i spend..

 

[2298754]

This new rewards program is terrible. I go to Starbucks at least 1-2 times every work day.

This rewards the people who get ridiculous stuff like a venti 10 shot caramel frappechino with extra whip. This penalizes the everyday customer who comes in for a damn plain latte.

 

[Rigby]

Well, I always thought their reward program was very generous. Assuming you always ordered the same drink, it basically amounted to a permanent ~8.5% off. The new one is obviously much less attractive if you usually order for less than about $5.20 per visit. I will not go out of my way to avoid Starbucks now, but I'm much more likely to use other coffee shops now. Once they introduce Apple Pay I'll also probably stop using their app/gift cards to pay since it's not really worth it anymore.

 

[pnoyblazed]

App is still slow and sluggish (iPhone 6+) for as long as I can remember. They need to bring back the stand alone mobile card app.

 

[psac]

Source? Seriously? Source is my calculator. A tall coffee is roughly $2. So 2 stars x 75 trips = $150 spend.

Honestly, I've been at the gold level since the rewards program started so I go to SB a lot all over town, all over the country. First, I've never seen anything in SB that was .50 except for an extra shot of espresso maybe. Certainly not chocolate. Second, I've never experienced the person in front of me buying several items, certainly not 30, and asking to have them scanned in individual transaction.

And you suggest I said "companies are evil" and "they are trying to screw us." Please show me those quotes. I do believe SB's program change is disingenuous, yes, for the reasons I stated. But companies are in business to make $. That is goal #1. But that is also why they invent loyalty programs -- to capture a customer base. So when they change gears why is it inappropriate for us loyal customers to comment on those changes? I'm not calling for a boycott of Starbucks. I'm not suggesting there should be a class action suit. I'm not even claiming SB's owes us a damn thing. I'm just saying this program is a sleight of hand.

It's 2 stars per $1, not one star per dollar. So your math is off by double.

To someone else's point, though, the gold benefits went down the hill once they took away the free flavored syrup years ago.

Now I go to Starbucks so rarely, it's generally only with my wife on vacation, and we'll get two large lattes each, so now the 20-25 or so stars we'll earn is better than the 1 we would've in the old world. The other time I go in on work trips, when I also get food, so again, I'll earn more stars in the new world.

Of course I still understand that the changes will be worse for at least 75% of customers. As a Starbucks shareholder, this worries me.

 

[jbachandouris]

Good review. The new app is the best SB has ever had. Glad someone focused on the app. As to the program, I'll earn rewards about as often as I do now since I'll get credit $'s spent such as for food rather than transactions. Also I won't be delayed in line by the person in front splitting into separate transactions for points which was unbelievably annoying to people behind them.

You're kidding right? This app is the worst they've ever had. Slow and unresponsive. A blank page for my 'dashboard?' Lame.

 

[unobtainium]

There are so many other/better coffee shops around NYC. I go to starbucks (rarely) and mostly because over time, I have gotten gift cards and I might as well use the value up. But I can't remember the last time I spent my own money on their coffee.

Coffee snobs always bash Starbucks, but to me it tastes better than the majority of "artisanal, organic independent roast coffee" you see around. Why? Because it's burnt and smoky and strong, and some people actually prefer that. It's also the same price or cheaper if you just buy drip coffee. I rarely buy lattes.

 

[makr]

App is still slow and sluggish (iPhone 6+) for as long as I can remember. They need to bring back the stand alone mobile card app.

You can add loyalty card in Wallet app and use it easily?

 

[RowellE]

Starbucks is the one RIPPING off the customers, not the other way around.

Tell me about it! I ordered a venti frapp the other day which cost me over $5, and out of curiosity, I watched the barista make it. 2 pumps of coffee, two pumps of syrup, a small splash of cream and everything else is just ICE. I was surprised how little actual ingredients they used and that to ice ratio. It's like 90% ice.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

It's 2 stars per $1, not one star per dollar. So your math is off by double....

Of course I still understand that the changes will be worse for at least 75% of customers. As a Starbucks shareholder, this worries me.

Appreciate the correction. It's still will take "coffee only" people like me 3x longer. It concerns me to as a shareholder b/c I think the rewards program is what brought SBUX back from the dead. I'm very much a Peter Lynch type of investor, i.e., invest in companies you are familiar with and can understand their business model. And this move is a disincentive for me to insist on going to Starbucks vs somewhere else. I don't think I'm alone.

 

[peterh988]

To someone else's point, though, the gold benefits went down the hill once they took away the free flavored syrup years ago.

We still get that in the UK (for now) along with free extra shots and free whipped cream. The syrup is the biggest attraction for me, saves me 50p per drink. If I lost that perk, I'd probably rethink my habits.

 

[chainprayer]

Two thoughts...

1. The "fairness" will vary by situation. My mother in law was generous and bought the whole family Starbucks. Spent $60 on her $100 gift card. Only got one star.

2. Stop complaining on the method in which you receive something for free.

 

[Sea Bass]

Or when mobile ordering, send all 4 drinks in as a separate order. Not abuse, just intelligent. Now they have put a stop to it. Fun while it lasted.

I'll be sure to visit local coffee shops wherever I travel now.

The day before they made the change, I did just that. Bought 4 low-cost food items through mobile and bought a coffee when I got there. Might as well make the best out of the old system before it went away.

 

[macfacts]

I really want the ability to collect rewards while paying (in-store) using ApplePay. It's annoying to scan the barcode thing when I could just tap, but if I don't then it doesn't get linked to my Starbucks account.

(if anyone already knows a way to set this up, please post)

Apple doesn't let any developers use the nfc inside the iPhone.