Today, Starbucks announced big changes to their Starbucks Card program, known as MyStarbucksRewards. The new changes go into effect on October 16, 2012. Here’s the new Rewards program at a glance:
Here is the link describing the new My Starbucks Rewards perks when you pay using your registered Starbucks Card:
Some of the big changes are that customers will be able to select food as their “reward” and the free reward cards will be earned faster – it now takes 12 stars rather than 15 to earn a Starbucks reward! Welcome to your “lucky dozen,” as I’ve heard it called. That’s a catchy phrase! Right off the bat, I will say that I am happy to have the increased flexibility of being able to select a food item as a reward – and this includes a bistro box or a panani!
I. Brief Starbucks Card History: (Skip this part if you don’t like history lessons!)
Just briefly, a little history of the Starbucks card: In November 2001, the very first Starbucks card was launched. On September 17, 2002, a decade ago, Starbucks enabled the card to have the ability to have automatic reloads.
The first rewards of any kind were launched in April 2008, having been announced by Howard Schultz at the annual meeting of shareholders in March 2008. They were part of the “transformation agenda” announced by Howard during that March 2008 meeting. The first generation of Starbucks rewards had no “levels” – You just registered a card and earned free soy milk, free breve milk, free syrups, a free tall beverage with a pound of beans, and free refills.
In November 2008, Starbucks launched a gold card where customers paid a $25 annual fee, and got 10% off his or her purchases. Keep in mind, by the end of 2008, and through most of 2009, Starbucks offered two side by side programs. The free program earned free soy and breve milk, free syrups, free refills and a free tall beverage when buying a pound of beans. There were no “levels” to the free program – all you did was register a card and use it to pay for your purchases. The 10% off program (which had a $25 annual fee) did not include the free milk changes, free syrups, and all the free perks. The 10% off card was phased out, one year after its initial launch.
During 2009, Starbucks quickly discovered that having two non-overlapping rewards programs really didn’t work. In October 2009, Starbucks announced the current version of MyStarbucksRewards, which offered three levels of rewards: A “Welcome” level, a “Green” level, and a “Gold” level. This three level version of MyStarbucksRewards went into effect in January 2010. The new MyStarbucksRewards launching on October 16th is the first major overhaul of the program since its January 2010 launch.
In April 2012, Starbucks started testing digital rewards in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
By the way, the previous free program where you registered a card and earned free soy and free syrups, and free tall beverage with a pound of beans was rolled into the “Green” level of benefits.
II. Discussion of New Rewards:
At a glance, here’s what the reward changes look like: (This is my own quick chart!)
| Before 10/16/2012 (Jan 2010 to 10/16/12) – “Sweet 16” | After: “Lucky Dozen” beginning 10/16 | |
| Free soy milk or breve milk at the “Green” level of rewards | Yes | No |
| Free food (pastries, bistro boxes, paninis, and the popcorn) | No | Yes |
| Electronic delivery of rewards | No | Yes |
| Free Tall Beverage when buying a pound of beans | Yes | No |
| Free syrups – Vanilla, Raspberry, Hazelnut, and standard syrups | Yes | No |
| Free Refills | Yes | Yes |
| Free Birthday Beverage | Yes | Yes |
I think lots of people are asking questions about these reward changes. Here’s what I know … I hope I got this right. This is new to me too! I do think that what I wrote below is correct.
Why are rewards going digital? Can I still receive a paper coupon in the mail?
Everyone will receive perks electronically. Starbucks was spending about a million dollars a month on mailing out free drink coupons. The paper rewards model just wasn’t a sustainable model. A million a month was a lot of money. It was expensive, and it used a lot of paper. It wasn’t “green” at all.
Is there any food that is excluded from the free food perk with my “Lucky Dozen” coupon?
As I understand it, all of the “Evenings” Starbucks food is NOT included, and is not eligible as a reward. Also, ready-to-drink beverages, such as the Evolution Fresh juices, are not eligible, as I understand it. A customer can grab a wide variety of food items – breakfast wraps, paninis, pastries, bistro boxes, bags of popcorn – all kinds of food items!
Can I bank my reward coupon and use it when I want to?
When you want to use a reward coupon, let the register barista know you have a reward to use. Your reward coupons do not automatically kick-in every 12 stars. It will appear electronically, but you should let the barista at the register know that you want to use it. This gives customer an added flexibility to use it on the beverage or food item of his or her choosing.
How will I know when I have a “lucky dozen” coupon to use?
You’ll get an email notifying you that you’ve received a free beverage/food coupon.
Will I be able to check my rewards, much like I can currently check my balance in the stores?
I inquired with Starbucks whether there will be a new functionality to the card of “check my reward coupons.” I imagine this new functionality as something akin to the current ability of a barista to swipe a registered card and tell the customer his or her balance. For customers who are very high users of the rewards, this seems like it would be a help in keeping track of rewards.
As I understand it, Starbucks is looking into this functionality, though it is not currently operational.
Why did Starbucks take away free soy milk (and free syrups) as an option?
I have actually heard baristas say that Starbucks got rid of free soy milk because it was just too expensive of a perk. I strongly do not think that is true.
About 25% of transactions at the register involve a registered Starbucks card. Out of those transactions involving a registered card, about 5% of them involve a free modifier such as free soy milk, free breve milk, or a free syrup. I am sure that there are some stores where it feels like a much higher average, but on the whole, it’s only about 5% of the registered transactions.
I think that as Starbucks re-evaluated their rewards programs, they found that it was cost-neutral to remove the free soy milk (and free syrups) option and then offer faster rewards with greater flexibility. In other words, the new version of the rewards will reach a much larger customer base. Those of us who do not use soy milk and syrups didn’t see that as the most useful benefit – and the numbers bear it out – only a small group of customers really used the free modifications.
III. Melody’s Perspective:
If I haven’t been clear up to this point, I resoundingly like these changes! I know that I’ve spent so long talking about the history of the rewards and the fine details, that it might not be obvious that I like these changes!
I can recall back in 2009, saying to myself, “After a while, to the heavy user, a free drink coupon is going to lose its surprise and delight … Oh yay, yet another free drink…” Early on, I saw the need for some variety in the Starbucks card rewards. Variety is the spice of life!
I definitely think that the added flexibility on how a customer can use his or her reward is, well, FABULOUS! I enjoy a few of the paninis, as well as some of the bistro boxes, especially the goat cheese bistro box. And my drink beverages are not really all that customized. Flexibility is a win win for me!
I like the overall simplification of the rewards. I think that it is possible that this new version of the rewards program will be easier for a barista to understand and explain. By the way, it is still true that a customer can use any card as his or her “gold” card, and is not tied to using the shiny gold card.
Only time will tell where the ambiguous and confusing moments are for this new program. The free refills aspect to the My Starbucks Rewards remains unchanged.
And I like being able to get my rewards faster. Once in a while, I handed a free beverage coupon to a friend, and I’ll miss that flexibility, but I like the idea of never having my rewards lost in the mail.
I understand that for the fans of soy milk and free syrups, it might feel like a sting, but I think over time people will readjust to the new “lucky dozen” Starbucks rewards. (As a reminder, a customer can save ten cents on his or her beverage by bringing in his or her own cup, mug, or tumbler.)
Now it is your turn to weigh in. I know this blog article is long and won’t quite look like some of the other articles in the news. Full disclosure: On Friday, September 7, 2012, I was able to ask a few questions of the Starbucks Sr. VP of Store Operations (Ms. Rossann Williams) about the changing My Starbucks Rewards. I didn’t receive anything at all – it was just a conversation where I got to ask questions about the My Starbucks Rewards. By the 5th of September I knew about the rewards revamp, and was glad to have a chance to ask a few direct questions. A big thank you and shout out to Linda Mills who made that happen. Thank you!
What do you think?
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I am one of those free-syrup customers and will miss that. However, I do like being able to get an electronic reward and also that it can be used on food. My husband would always give me his free drink coupons because my drinks are always more expensive than his brewed coffee. He can’t easily give me his coupon anymore, but he’ll be able to use it on a free breakfast sandwich instead. It works out well.
For those of us who did use any of those ‘modifiers’, we’re just paying more now (and still loaning Sbux all that $$$ on all those registered cards at any given time, all told) in order to receive the “sweet13” sooner. ??? It’s all awash I’m guessing. For all that it cost Sbux to print and mail all those cards??? they made up, I feel fairly sure, in all those cards that were either lost, never sent or never redeemed. The card in the mail, or the free drink of my choosing, never lost its appeal to me. Maybe that’s because I earned ~6-8/mnth and seldom recvd anywhere near that amount. Sbux blames USPS, of course. In any case, Sbux made $$$ (or, didn’t spend it) on all those. that whole “slippage” thing. They are a business….. I get that.
For those who buy more food than drink, it’s great. I wouldn’t be one of those people so I don’t care about that flexibility. My regular winter drink…the only syrup I use for myself, will now cost quite a bit…. 4 shot tall cinnamon dolce. I’ll pay for that 13th item in the cin dolce syrup in no time. It makes me SICK they can’t even give the free tall with a lb of beans. That just seems like a common courtesy….as it used to be with the mugs (free coffee).
@Melody: I think I’ve read where you get so many cards, you aren’t even aware of them? I’ve heard you say you had so many….they’d become, what sounded like to me, meaningless. I never felt that way. I’ve always used every card I DID receive, usually on someone else.
The electronic part will be better IF their IT dept works better than we’ve seen in the past. It wasn’t clear to me whether we can still check our “items” earned online? I would want that, and not to rely on having a partner tell me (or Sbux email) from swiping my card. I’d like to see the dates earned.
Of course Sbux needs to win. and they do. I don’t see this as improved.
What apparently did NOT change, that I saw people asking for all the time, was a *star* earned per $$$/amnt, not per item. Apparently that part is the same….. if you want “credit” for every item, you need to have it pd for individually. (kind of like the ‘brew on demand’ policy, a pain that many people won’t ask for and many partners don’t like to do)
🙁
ps: I do agree this “plan” will be easier for a partner to understand and explain: “no, no and no”.
For whatever reason, sometime early in 2009, Starbucks sent me a free 10% off card with the understanding that the $25 fee would be effective the following year. We all know that fee got phased out quickly. I don’t know how many people received one of those but I guess I was one of the lucky ones.
The elimination of the free modifiers is going to hurt me, as I usually get soy milk and syrup in my morning beverage. Coupled with the 10 cents off using my own mug, the cost of my drink usually came to just about a dollar off every morning. But I guess a free drink every 12 instead of every 15 balances it all out.
Happy about the digital rewards instead of the postcards! Can’t say how many times I have forgotten to bring my Sweet 15 card to the store. Sometimes those things just rode around in my purse.
Starbucks made the new program announcement in the wee hours of the morning and you already had a blog post up, Melody. Girl, when do you sleep?
Thanks for posting this, Melody! I’m disappointed in the loss of syrups, and I can’t say that reducing the “free drink” threshold from 15 to 12 makes up for it. In my case, I’ll spend an extra $3.60 in syrups to get to the free item, meaning I get about a bit over a dollar free every 12 visits instead of just under $5 free every 15. (Just like i had to laugh at the 29-Star and 12-Star Dash promos; I’d have had to spend vastly more than the value of the reward to get it.)
I can see how this reduces confusion in store, especially as the line between “syrup” and “sauce” gets blurred. (For example, pumpkin “sauce” isn’t free because it isn’t a “syrup,” but it’s advertised in StarbucksStore.com emails as a “syrup.”) However, if 5% of 25% of all transactions were using the syrup/soy benefit, it couldn’t have been that much in actual product cost.
Ah, well … I still love the product and I’m still addicted, so it’s not like i’ll go less frequently or anything!
Heard about this a couple weeks ago…kinda disappointed, but not a huge deal either way. Your 300 star a year customer will yield about 5 more free drinks/food item a year, but if you buy whole bean regularly or are big on vanillas lattes (if 100 of those 300 stars are for syrup-based beverages, that’ll equal roughly $50/year…about double what the additional drinks will give you), it’s a net loss for you. But if you’re more of a purist and mostly get Americanos and Anniversary Blends, with the occasional flavored latte thrown in as a “treat”, this is an improve for you.
Its about time they made the rewards digital, have wondered for ages why they were still doing the postcards and simplification is good As for me, I order a mix of non-modified drinks and modified ones, so its a mixed bag for me. Definitely not complaining (hopefully the partners on the front line don’t get too much flack from customers about this), but will I probably be buying more whole bean in grocery stores (where I presume the free tall brewed coffee coupon will persist) and maybe opting for Pike instead of a vanilla latte more often? Probably…
This change is a slap in the face to those who, like me, regularly get lattes and the like. Losing the free syrup is a huge deal, and moving the free drink to 12 does not begin to cover it.
12 lattes x 50¢ = $6.00, which is higher than the cost of even a venti latte with syrup. Thanks a ton, Starbucks, for rewarding my loyalty by taking away benefits.
No more free syrup or milk?! No more free beverage with bean purchase!?!?!? Waaaaahhhh =(
But I have to love the digital, flexible rewards at 12 stars!
I’m glad to see that some of you really laid out the costs and losts and possibilities of this latest plan. (I also had the black 10% card originally)
Personally, I’m a ~364day/yr person, usuallly with more than just my drink. My summer quad doubleshot is the least costly, my cold weather drink…..4shot tall cinn. dolce….adds up to quite a bit, and soon, even more. Generally, I either get a second drink for someone else and/or some pastry for me. That’s my usual pattern. = lots of *stars*. I also buy a box of VIA and also now Refreshers so they’re on hand all the time at home, or elsewhere. I go thru a lb of beans from Sbux ~10days.
So, there’s not much aof a win in this for a customer like me. Actually, will change my Sbux spending for sure. (less) I’ve been a loyal customer forever and wish it were still the “third place” and had more coffees, a few pastries and less other drinks/food items. a coffee house, like they used to be. or, at least similar.
Sbux, as a company, talks so much of compassion and aid and fair trade etc. and yet, I really feel they are nickel and dime-ing me to death.
For those of you who only go or spend a couple times a week, I see it as not so bad. OR, if they’d never had any rewards program! I lived happily that way, running in and out and in to Sbux every day for yrs and yrs. Sure, I’ll ‘adjust”…but definitely I will be getting less and spending less. I think for younger people…..they won’t notice so much. But for those of us who go to read (a PAPER item) and talk with the partners or meet a friend, it is a loss.
Wow did not hear about this before this posting. I have mixed feelings about it. I like the fact that food will be included. I do not use the syrups so that does not bother me. I just wonder how the introduction of the changeover will go with partners and I would like to be able to keep track of what is on my card re the rewards. I do see some confusion re implementation especially from the tech end. Look how it was with getting the $5 egift card from the 12 dash promo!
Finally they are taking them digital! So many times I’ve felt that it was a waste to send me a paper coupon when I pay for all my Starbucks with my phone. This system is a great change.
Great post Melody!
Here’s my thoughts:
-I’m excited that the rewards will be on the card ready to use. Ive had some customers who don’t want to give us the whole card because of privacy. I think that skipping the postal system is going to be worth it.
-I expect that the syrup/soy will ruffle some feathers at the till. Much like a price increase people will be surprised at first then go on to the new normal
-I think the BEST part of the new rewards is the option to get food for the rewards. It will give customers a chance to try the bistro boxes/paninis and adds more flexibility.
I also have to admit that my first thought when I read about this was that Melody had just finished writing all the clairifications of the rewards program.
Without trying it out, it seems that this will be much easier to manage/explain.
As a partner, I am a fan of these changes 🙂 Once we get over the initial growing pains that inevitably happen with change (Canada never had the 10% black card, but I can imagine that it would have been a similar transition customer reaction-wise :)), this program is simpler to implement, creates less confusion (sauce/syrup), offers more flexibility, and most importantly, reaches more customers – I am not lactose intolerant, nor do I like my coffee sweetened, so the rewards program has never had as much value to me as to some others. The new rewards system levels out the playing field, and does not place a higher priority on certain groups of customers. Faster. Flexible. Fairer (if that’s a word – more fair didn’t work for my alliteration :)). Yay!
Good to know! I wonder how my experience will change as a user of the iOS app. Will I still need to tell the barista that I want to claim a reward? Or will they update the app to make it seamless? (hoping for the latter)
For the most part, I feel optimistic about the changes they’ve made to the program. I’m one of those people that always uses the modifiers when ordering an espresso beverage (I can’t have dairy, so soy it always is), but I get drip and french presses more often than the lattes. Elimination of the modifiers, for me, just means I’ll get lattes less….no big deal in the long run. *shrug shoulders*
Please keep in mind these changes came from listening to customer feedback via Customer Voice surveys and Mystarbucksidea.com . Getting a reward 20% faster with the new lowered threshold for stars earned and the electronic sendout would of course come with a tradeoff. No company would just give away their business like that. At the end of the day, you’re still receiving free items and Starbucks is still less expensive than many indie coffee shops (in my area they are cheaper than all of them).
I love the idea of free food items – the paninis and bistro boxes are delicious (chicken santa fe, anyone?) and pretty expensive vs a lot of beverages. As far as tracking rewards, to my knowledge you can still log in on starbucks.com and see how many stars you’ve earned, as you can now. Besides, what’s harm in ordering and telling the register partner “Will you try swiping my card for a reward on that beverage, food item, etc to see if I have one?”
Gee, I guess this means I’ll be getting my mochas and lattes from the friendly local coffee shop from now on. Better ambience, better quality, and without the free modifiers, same price. The free drinks were a nice bonus, but I registered my Starbucks card back in 07 for the syrup and milk benefits, and it’s a real negative to lose them in favor of an expanded stars program. I’ll still come in for brewed coffee and cold, but this will definitely impact how often I come in for more pricey beverages.
I’m excited for the new changes. I think Starbucks has a great rewards program, and i always love free stuff. :
Melody, Thanks for your informative blog post. I am a frequent rewards user, just completed the ’12 card dash’ etc but as of yet I have received no email up date from Starbucks on the changes. I am sure I will get something via snail mail but you’re ahead of the curve. Thanks so much.
Useful info from deep in the FAQ: Rewards expire 30 days after earning them. And “Yes, you can tell your barista when you want to redeem the free item (must be before it expires). If you have multiple items in the transaction, the highest priced eligible item will be free.”
Sorry folks I find it hard to get excited either way with this latest revamp of MSR.
@Melody – just one addition to your card history. Before the “Black” “Gold Card” was made available for purchase by everyone, there was a “Black Card” presented to “loyal regular customers”, some chosen by Starbucks and some chosen by each Starbucks Store.
Being one of the fortunate few to receive a “Black Card” made me a bit biased towards Starbucks. However, ever since the 10% across the board discount was eliminate I have been ambivalent about the MSR program.
There are some big winners and losers with these changes.
Big loser, the U.S. Postal Service; a million dollars a month is a big hit for them.
Big winner, the Starbucks Shareholder; a million dollar bump to the bottom line.
Starbucks may lose some customers who really used the modifiers benefit, but I predict that they will quietly come back.
I hope that Starbucks IT Contractor is up to the new electronic rewards program. I strongly suggest you all get used to getting and keeping Starbucks Receipts for awhile to ensure the new program is properly applied. The POS System should take care of everything, but there has not been one developed yet that an employee cannot mess up 😉
Dad Cooks glad to see your comment and hope you are doing ok. Seems like a bit since you last posted. I agree with you especially regarding your comments about the us postal service and the IT Contractor. The set up of the new IT system really worries me because nothing ever works properly and I really feel that partner training is so chopped up from store to store. Are partners being trained on this new system before launch or will it be training while using?
Thanks so much for the heads up, Melody. I am happy with the changes except the free tall drink no longer being available. Everything else is great! I am happy the cards will be electronic since I use the iPhone app any way. They WILL have to make sure their technology is WORKING and up to the task. I hate trying to see recent transactions just to get an error message.
Ready to start earning even more free drinks and free food to try some of their stuff!
Starbucks has every right to change its programs and I support that right. As a consumer, I can vote with my feet/wallet.
I do tend to question corporate positioning as well as corporate numbers (as those are often positioned). I would be very interested in knowing what percentage of rewards customers ordered the dairy/syrup modifier. I imagine a large percentage of Starbucks cards are not registered. If those are removed from the mix, I would imagine the “5%” is actually a larger percentage. Starbucks has never struck me as a company deep in data analytics. I’m not saying they do not look at data, but given their track record, I am not sure they ever really do deep dives.
My assumption going into this is that registered card holders are probably some of the more frequent guests if not at least some of the more “engaged” guests. If that is indeed true, I hope Starbucks dug deeper into the numbers as the impact may weigh more heavily on their more frequent and/or engaged guests and might not sit so well.
It also appears that they give the easy “customers told us” excuse for any changes they implement. I do not have a lot of faith in MSI, and I have never seen a Customer Voice survey that did much beyond repeating the information already entered into the POS system and checking the pulse on the store that day.
As for rewards programs, they do not typically impact my behavior. But incentive programs sometimes do. As a long time Starbucks customer, I viewed the free tall with purchase of whole bean as more of an incentive than a reward. As @denise r mentioned, years ago Starbucks offered a free drink with the purchase of a mug or tumbler (“first one’s on us”). If you buy this product today, we’ll throw in a free beverage. That’s an incentive to buy.
I am disappointed with the decision to drop the whole bean/tall incentive. Granted, the brew at home product has undergone changes over the years and now is in newer instant and K-cup format. I am sure the company sells less and less whole bean these days, and that the instant and K-cup formats will some day surpass the whole bean; but to me, the incentive is not on the “whole bean” product itself, but the “take the experience home” product. I would have preferred to see the incentive expand to Via and K-cups rather than disappear.
On a side note, it will be interesting to see what individual stores do about this particular change. I learned of this change a few days after Melody. Shortly after that, I learned the word was issued to the stores (and I believe many have had store meetings around it already).
Because of this news, last week I started “stocking up” on whole bean and buying a pound of beans with my drink order instead of just the drink. Strangely, each and every time the register barista asked if I would like a free tall beverage and on two or three of those occasions, turned to ask another barista how to enter the free drink. Prior to last week, I would simply buy the beans and drink and no discussion would take place – the order would be totaled and swiping the card would reduce the amount owed – no barista intervention, either verbally during the transaction or on the register.
Each time this happened last week I would offer that swiping the registered card would remove the drink automatically, but a code was entered instead. One additional time at the same store, the drink and coffee bean purchase was totaled with the discount applied before I was told the total (typically the total is ~$4 higher than is reduced once swiped). This new behavior leads me to believe that at least some stores will be offering the incentive themselves long after the rewards program changes (offering a store “incentive” once the company “reward” has expired).
As for me specifically, I imagine this change will lead me to buy more of my whole bean elsewhere. I do like buying Starbucks espresso beans, but without the incentive of a free tall, I think I will buy more Intelligentsia (the better premium bean) and/or Trader Joes (cheaper and saves a trip to Starbucks).
As a straight-up black coffee drinker, I’m all for the changes!
As a straight-up black coffee drinker, I’m all for the changes!
@purple1 – the Manager at my regular Starbucks sat down with me over a week ago and talked to me about the MSR changes, among other things. She talked about the training that they would be doing. In my professional opinion Starbucks is not allotting enough proctored training time and this is made worse by the very low staffing levels. (Thanks for asking how I am doing. I had both of my knees “resurfaced”, delaying the inevitable day of necessary replacement.)
@CD – good set of comments. I particularly agree with your reward vs incentive points, and I echo your experience with beans and a tall and I also will be changing my bean purchases.
Thanks much for keeping us updated, Melody! It’s disconcerting that we have to hear this from you rather than from SBUX itself, but I suspect they’ll eventually get around to sending updates (kinda like the old postcards would *eventually* arrive, maybe). I’m definitely quite pleased with all of the changes.
the modifiers were actually a BIG reason for me to use my registered card, as i am pretty badly lactose intolerant. i was annoyed enough when they switched from silk soy to the gritty soy they use now. i’m not saying i won’t continue with starbucks, because they are convenient, and consistent enough to know what t expect when i’m in an unfamiliar locale, but…bumping it to 12 stars does not equal enough of a change in value for me to like this new setup. i think free soy on 15 drinks = more of a cost bonus than getting a free item sooner.
there are many good coffee places in seattle, and many of them charge less for soy and have the buy 10 get 1 free rewards cards. starbucks must surely realize they’ve now put themselves behind (again) in terms of this sort of incentive.
I had heard about the changes (most of which I view as negative), and was disappointed to see the announcement described as “improved” in the email sent today.
Being in Pittsburgh, I already have the electronic rewards, so that’s no change for me, though I hope they come up with a way to tell if I have free drinks in my account, without asking a barista.
I watch calories too much to ever eat anything at Starbucks (unless I’m traveling and then I get the bistro boxes, but that’s moot here), so that new perk is wasted on me. And I guess I’ll be buying my coffee beans elsewhere – that was something I always took advantage of (do/will the coffee bag from beans bought in grocery stores still get a free coffee?).
The lower qualification level for getting a free reward is good, but probably a wash for me, considering all the free talls I will no longer get by buying coffee beans.
Otherwise, to me, the bottom line is they took away almost all the perks, and added two items of convenience.
Overall, I think I come out better with the changes than before. I really like the option to get food rather than just a drink with the reward. I also love the digital redemption — no more lost cards!
But, we will be switching our whole bean purchases to Costco. The free tall beverage is just a deal breaker for us, and my wife and I go through about a pound every 2 weeks.
I’m very happy to hear they’re going digital! I can’t wait to use one of my digital coupons to buy a tasty bacon breakfast sammich.
I’m also one of the syrup/milk free upgrades that is sad about this perk going away and will miss this feature. But just to clarify, it says above:
“Free soy milk or breve milk at the “Green” level of rewards”
I’m assuming this also applies to Gold level as well. If that’s the case, then what I typed above is how I feel about this. Sad.
Only having to get 12 instead of 15 helps get more free drinks sooner (and with less wait times since the free item will be digital instead of a postcard)
Not happy about the changes to soy milk and flavors. Before the rewards program I would pick out the smaller coffee shops instead of Starbucks, but the soy milk benefit sucked me in. I have been pretty much a daily visitor since. As a vegan I will end up paying more ordering vanilla soy lattes and won’t be able to enjoy any of the food, so not really a benefit for me. It is stupid to pay more for soy milk in the first place. Knowing how much the amount of soy milk cost, they really rip us off for this option. I don’t think I’ll continue keeping my gold status now.
Melody,
I saw the email about this today in my inbox and came straight over here to announce my excitement! I go to SB maybe once a week so I was getting a free beverage every 4 months or so. Plus my bday one. This is exciting! i get one every 3 months now!
Now I hope we get the notice for the free item faster. By the time I would get the postcard in the mail I had already forgotten I earned it. Ha ha!
~Allie
(rant on)
As could be expected MSI is swamped with unhappy/whiney people. The baristas must be telling all the complainers to go to MSI. Again an indication that training is sorely lacking at Starbucks and MSI needs Moderator action. MSI is an idea site, not a complaint site.
(rant off)
I have never seen so much vitriol on the MSI site as the fallout from this announcement. Not even the transition from the original Black Card to the Gold Card had this much insanity.
I see people screaming that they’re being discriminated against, that Starbucks is “destroying their health”, and that this is the equivalent of rape.
The fact that this is all over SIXTY CENTS… and that most people will actually be saving more money than they did before, even while paying for soy milk…. is bonkers.
Complaints are being posted at a rate of more than 10 per minute on MSI.
Looks like Starbucks IT Contractor and salesforce.com have beefed up their systems. Too bad it is only being exercised negatively.
What really cracks me up is that, just a few days ago, the most frequent comments were the constant stream of people demanding almond milk — who inevitably would say something like “Nobody uses soy, it’s awful and gives you cancer and kills babies”.
Now they’re brandishing torches and pitchforks because they have to pay the usual sixty cents for it like everyone else does… while earning more free drinks or food.
I hate to say it, but it’s times like this when I agree with Melody… maybe they were better off without a Rewards Program in the first place!
When will companies learn that they will never please everyone with targeted rewards programs or support for causes.
If the bean counters (financial analysts) knew what they were doing, they would be able to show Starbucks Management that the original “membership” (you had to pay to play) 10% off Black Card was easy to administer and yielded the most bang for the buck.
Are they charging for adding syrup, or for adding additional syrup to drinks like iced coffee?
[…] for our favorite coffee company to save credit card transaction fees with some simple incentives. Starbucks Melody (not a Starbucks Employee) weighed in. Her last section of the post as best and it aligns with what I’m saying here. Long term […]
I pretty much have stopped reading MSI and I so agree if comments have gone wild re the new program they should have a better moderator. Actually, in some ways perhaps they need to set up
a specific web site for people to respond to this new program and voice their complaints and concerns so other sites are not overloaded. I too really liked the black card 10 percent off rewards program. Also, was there a committee established to create these changes and I assume HS approves of all the changes?
Got an email from Starbucks this morning announcing the new rewards program. Included was $5 on my registered card. Free drink for me!
I drink soy which costs an extra 60 cents per drink so I’m really not happy with the change, this sucks!!! I rarely eat the food at starbucks and getting a free drink at 12 doesn’t make much of a difference. I don’t drink the syrup but really starbucks, to not have that as a benefit anymore is just wrong. Where is the love starbucks, where is the love? I’ve been with you for over 10 years and this is what I get? I’m defintely going to drink starbucks less now and might just stop altogether.
I’m lactose intolerant and the soy milk (and refills) were the only perks that i regularly benefited from. What a shame.
DadCooks – as a shareholder I was overjoyed when they dropped that 10% discount card. If you study their annual report you’ll see that their after tax profit margin is LESS than 10%. Not the kind of “bang for the buck” investors generally look for.
I’m one of those that falls into the niche group of this being a great change for me. I don’t use soy milk, whole milk, or breve, so I won’t miss that perk. My drinks don’t have the free syrups in them…I stick to coffees, plain lattes with caramel drizzle, and Pumpkin spice lattes in the fall. Occasionally I have gotten a cinnamon dolce latte but that was only because I knew the syrup would be a perk, and I wanted something that my card would deduct! I guess I’ll have to order a few more of those before October, and get my fill! I love the reduced stars to get to a free drink and I love that they are electronic too!
I’ve been off line most of the afternoon, and I’m kind of catching up reading comments. I just glanced at MyStarbucksIdea.com, which is pretty darn overwhelming. It’s like every soy drinker is suddenly on MSI. I’m still processing the many idea threads.
I’m still trying to read through the many comments here too. Lots of great comments.
Being lactose intolerant I used the soy benefit heavily, it will be missed. I was one of the original 10% off (free promo for being a Starbucks Addict) and all the cards since. I have to say the Micros register system has very nice reports and for everyone complaining they don’t do good analytics of customer spend…well hate to say it but the ability to get detail by store, region, etc is amazing. Now are they looking at popular or dropping costly -just because customers feel one way doesn’t mean accounting won’t see it another way. I do wish it was a per item star relationship not per transaction, but oh well.
As for electronic rewards Panera has had that for a bit and I like it.