Starbucks announced its new customer loyalty card program called My Starbucks Rewards, which will launch on December 26 in all U.S. Starbucks stores. Consolidating the two current programs, Starbucks Card Rewards and Starbucks Gold card, the new streamlined program delivers value with no annual fee, allows members to use one registered card (any Starbucks Card), and provides customized rewards that increase with frequency of use.
Benefits are offered in levels that accumulate including: Welcome Level, a free beverage when card is initially registered; Green Level, which after using the registered card five times qualifies customers for free brewed refills, free flavor syrups and soy, a free tall drink of choice with purchase of one pound of whole bean coffee, up to two continuous hours of free Wi-Fi daily, and other special offers; and Gold Level, which, in addition to all of the benefits in the Welcome and Green Levels, earns members a free drink after every 15 purchases. To qualify for the Gold Level, a customer needs to visit 30 times in a year (which averages less than three visits per month).
“Our Starbucks Card Rewards and Gold Card programs have been successful, but the more than three million members have asked us to create a simpler, easier to access program that rewards them based on their frequency,” says Terry Davenport, senior vice president of marketing for Starbucks Coffee Company. “We believe the new My Starbucks Rewards program, which is free at all levels, will help deepen our relationship with our most loyal customers while also encouraging more customers to join the program.”
Current registered members of Starbucks Gold and Starbucks Card Rewards will be automatically enrolled beginning in January 2010 at the appropriate level in My Starbucks Rewards.
Starbucks Gold card members whose memberships are due to expire this year will have their memberships—and their 10 percent discounts—extended through December 31. All other registered Starbucks Gold card members who signed up after January 1, 2009, will continue to enjoy their discount for their full membership term of 12 months and will automatically transition into the Gold Level of the new program upon expiration.
