Starbucks To Reveal Web3-Based Reward Program In September
- American coffeehouse and roastery reserve firm Starbucks plans to enter the Web3 industry after recently releasing an NFT collection earlier
- The Seattle-based firm will also release a new coffee-themed NFT collection, which will provide additional benefits to the buyers
American coffeehouses and roastery reserves multinational chain Starbucks seem to be recognizing the potential of the Web3 sector, launching its Web3 initiative at September’s Investors Day event.
The Web3 initiative by the Seattle-based coffeehouse giant includes a coffee-themed NFT collection, in which NFTs not only would serve as digital collectibles but would also provide holders with access to exclusive content and additional perks.
Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, who is currently serving as the company’s interim CEO, announced the upcoming Web3 initiative during this week’s earnings call with investors.
“We have been working on a very exciting new digital initiative that builds on our existing industry-leading digital platform in innovative new ways all centered around coffee and, most importantly, loyalty, that we will reveal at Investor Day,”
he added.
However, the company has been loose while explaining the details about the NFT collection’s launch, specific features they’d offer, or even on what blockchain they were building the NFTs, hinting that plans were not finalized at the moment. Notably, Starbucks revealed that the plan was likely to be multichain or chain-agnostic.
Starbucks’ recent efforts in the digital world
The company, which previously announced hosting plans for 2022 Investor Day on September 13, 2022, in Seattle, Washington, has been planning to make a solid entry in the Web3 space. Overall, the coffee retailer believes digital collectibles might boost its stores’ profitability and hinted that more would be unveiled this year.
While other companies hopped on the NFT trend without much research, Starbucks seems to be taking a different strategy. It sees collectibles as consumer loyalty. Adam Brotman, an architect of Mobile Order & Pay and the Starbucks app, was brought in as a special advisor on the project.
Mobile Order & Pay is Starbucks’ biggest digital success. The company introduced the digital wallet concept even before the mainstream adoption of Apple Pay. Starbucks mobile ordering has expanded alongside mobile payment adoption. Notably, mobile orders, delivery, and drive-through contributed 72% of Starbucks’ U.S. revenue in Q3.
Interim CEO Schultz said that the company believes that the new web3-enabled initiative will allow it to build on the existing Starbucks Rewards engagement model with its powerful spend-to-earn-stars strategy. With the new initiative, it would incorporate new ways of emotionally engaging customers, offer a broader set of rewards, and expand its digital third place community.
“This will create an entirely new set of digital network effects that will attract new customers and be accretive to existing customers in our core retail stores,”
he added.
Schultz also emphasized the importance of connecting to younger customers on the call. A web3-based loyalty program might be another strategy for luring younger customers to the brand. Though the company hasn’t very clearly stated its plan, directly linking NFTs with the Starbucks Rewards sounds potentially interesting.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
