This May, the My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program expands into grocery, so you can earn a “Star” by buying specially-marked packages of coffee. I want to give you a sneak preview of how the program works, so you’ll know exactly how to get your Stars!
When you’re at the grocery store, simply look for Starbucks coffee with a special small sticker affixed to the upper right area of the bag:
The special gold sticker says on it, “Buy this bag. Earn free drinks at Starbucks.” If your grocery store coffee doesn’t have this sticker, you cannot earn stars from it.
I discovered that the adhesive used for this sticker is pretty strong! I had wondered if these little stickers would fall off, or easily be ripped off, but I don’t think that is likely. When you pull the sticker from the bag of coffee, a code is revealed:
Hang on to that sticker! You’ll need to enter that code on a website. The sticker tells you to “Look inside.” I will admit, when I first played around with the bag, I thought, “Look inside of what?” The adhesive is so strong, it’s not immediately obvious that there are layers to the sticker. I tried to tear at the edges, in a frustrated manner. Do not do that. The easiest thing to do is place the sticker between your thumb and fingers, and roll it until it naturally begins to peel apart:
Pretty soon, you’ll have the sticker fully opened, and you’ll find further instructions on how to obtain your My Starbucks Rewards Star:
Next, enter the code in the special Starbucks website set up for this. According to the instruction sheet, you should be able to visit http://www.starbucks.com/entercode and earn your Star. Since the program has not launched yet, that website is not yet live. I will keep you posted, or edit this if there is a different website to visit.
Now you know how to get your My Starbucks Rewards at the grocery store!
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Melody although it seems pretty straightforward to get a star I also think the way SB set it up will discourage a lot of people to do it. Why can’t they have some kind of digital system set up with the grocer so you can get the star upon purchase like you were in the SB store? I know the downside to this option. I can also see negative comments springing up on MSI.
purple1 every grocery chain uses their own point of sale software. starbucks would probably be made to help program the coding into each and every one. it would be logistically impractical for starbucks,is my guess.
in stores with starbucks kiosks,it’d probably be a bit easier, for sure.
Well, yes the easiest way would to be to have the grocery store scan and it would show up on your account….but a) that would involve a lot of software code, b) the grocery chains would want $$ to do it, and I am not sure they would do it at all given the amount of different coffee products they stock.
that’s pretty much my entire point, though you explained it better 🙂
I think this promotion is going to be a really bad idea. Think of the thefts that are going to occur at the grocery stores. If all you have to do is remove the tage on the bag and have no other proof of purchase, I can see some people removing them or even the people stocking the shelves removing them before they get onto the shelves. I guess we will just have to wait and see.
I don’t think that normal, law abiding citizens will turn into shoplifters over this. The sticker is hard to remove, so it would be really obvious to see someone in the grocery aisle pulling at it, and people aren’t going to start shoplifting pounds of coffee. You bring up an interesting question with the grocery store employees – generally speaking, most “loss” that businesses have in the US comes from employees and not customers. I still, though, don’t think that the rate of damaged/lost/stolen coupons will be any higher than the rate of “loss” already experienced by retail business, and therefore likely doesn’t rise to the level of corporate concern. In short, I suspect that stolen stickers will be de minimus.
Melody, the key to your statement is “normal law abiding citizens”, sorry but I am getting jaded in my old age and see way too many cases of people not seeing any harm gaming the system. I expect that eBay and Craigslist will see a fair share of codes for sale. Another sad statistic to keep in mind is that 60% of “shrinkage” is caused by employees, and only 40% to traditional shoplifters.
Have they put a limit on the numbers of codes you can redeem in a day or week? I guess once the program is up and running they will know if card members are abusing it. I am not sure about ebay and craigslist as these codes will only really be worth 1/12th of the price of a drink!
I agree, it’s trivial to remove – one could fiddle with it while doing other shopping, although doing multiple ones at once will probably be a problem short of the stock clerk with the stockroom to himself. This is similar to the coupons that get stuck outside product, except usually that coupon is only good on that product for that purchase.
A smarter idea would have been to put the CODE INSIDE THE BAG printed on the foil so when you opened it you found it and entered it. I can see thefts of the stickers too by employees or the general public because opportunity will make for greed.
Good idea Sandra, and hopefully Starbucks will do that in the future. But I get the impression that this idea was only conceived in the last couple of months and the coffee that goes to the grocery stores was bagged 2 to 3 months ago. So Starbucks went with the sticker to get a faster launch.
Easier would be having a code that would add the star the next time you went to an actual Starbucks. Like when you go in to exchange the bag for a cup of coffee. You probably have the Starbucks card already and visit the stores regularly. That is easiest on the customers. However it might not be easiest on the programmers. For version 1.0 having the website is probably simplest to implement and get the program up and running.
Sandra I think your idea is a good one, but I bet SB probably thinks people might buy more coffee if they see on the outside of the bag they can get a star for the purchase. I think once they see what they have to do they might not follow through.
I think from a marketing perspective and customer loyalty it is better to make the process as simple as possible. When SB had the promotion to buy 3 tazo boxes in a grocery store and then you have to go to the website and put in the UPC codes and you get $5 on your card, it ended up for me a time consuming process and I had to call customer service because they never put the $5 on my card until I made them aware it never was processed. I spent more time than I wanted to get my $5 reward.
A similar promotion has been running in the UK for a month or so now. I haven’t tried it as I don’t tend to buy bags of coffee such as this. It’s a similar idea of the sticker on the outside of the bag though, and yes I’ve noticed bags where the sticker has been clearly removed.
Will the k-cups be included in the rewards program? We haven’t purchased ground coffee since getting a keurig several years ago…
Melody, out of curiosity, did the bag you got with the MSR sticker on it still have the code for a free tall coffee if you bring the bag back to a local Starbucks?
Hi Kristen – Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. Yes, I have noticed that the free tall coffee message is still on the grocery store packaging. It tells you that it expires 30 days after the “best before”date (which for the coffee above was October 2013), and it gives you a ring code. I don’t know what stores are doing but I do feel like Starbucks stores should honor the coupon – after all it’s just a free tall Pike Place. That’s not much to give away.
Thanks Melody! I would honor it anyway, I was just curious.
Well Kristen it’s still an area I’m curious about. I could’ve sworn that I read somewhere that the free tall coffee on the grocery bags of whole bean were being phased out, but I’ve done a bazillion Google searches on it, and cannot find anything that says that they’re being phased away.
The most recent official Starbucks article on the free tall coffee with whole bean appears to be this:
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2012/03/02/exchange-your-empty-coffee-bag-for-a-brewed-tall-coffee.aspx
I must’ve been mistaken about the idea that the free tall coffee was being phased out. I just don’t know where I heard or got that…
I have heard that too, but all of the packing seems to be keeping the free tall Pike in place. Maybe people were confusing it with the MSR free tall drink with every in-store whole bean purchase change?
How interesting – The “enter code” link on this page now cycles you to the rewards page, and there is now a link to enter a code. Looks like it’s live. I have to actually enter a code and give it a try!
The special gold sticker says on it, “Buy this bag. Earn free drinks at Starbucks.” Should be on the outside of Bag…But the sticker with the code on it should be on the inside, to prevent people from stealing and stock piling them while at the stores :
I am a new Starbucks fan and I am really confused. The official website reward information is not clear to me. Can someone please list each reward for each level for me. I noticed that the program changed in the fall 2012, but can’t find any info on it. Thank you! This blog is very informative.
I purchased your coffee at Walmart on Sat. July 6th,peeled the
Sticker got a number P77W12CM. Tried ever so hard to register
On line. Guess what your company or whoever telling me that
The number entered was invalid. It gave another number from
God knows where, and guess what that was invalid.
You guys are going to have to do better than this.
The. System is not working.
Thanks
Gus
Hi Gus!
My name is Melody and this is my website. I do not work for Starbucks. Starbucks doesn’t operate this website.
I think in your case, your best bet would be to contact Customer Service. Maybe they can assist you and find someway to make up for your frustration.
Here you go –
http://www.starbucks.com/customer-service/
Good luck!
Melody
OMG. So I’m of a coffee purchasing frame of mind today and I got an email or something from Starbucks about a buy one get one sale on their website for select coffee. OK. So @scearley asks what I’m doing and I told him I’m just investigating coffee on Starbucks. He is really big on my getting stars on my card and asked “what about getting stars for your coffee at the grocery store. Melody was talking about that not too long ago.” I’m like WHAT? I miss so much these days – I don’t keep up like I used to online. So I went to Google and found your article right away. I LOVE YOUR STARBUCKS POSTS. I like the easy step by step instructions. I like that you went through the process and shared your experience and now when I go for some coffee tonite at the store I will not be fumbling around LOL. Mel thank you. Your website and your articles are still my go to for updates, education of the coffee things and is just really fun <3
Why does everyone have to complain? I love the idea. More free coffee for me! I’m certainly not going to become a thief suddenly just for one star. That’s just silly. And it really isn’t a big deal pulling up your app and entering the code. If you are too lazy to do it, send them to me and I will =D
I’m a Keurig convert and I drink French Roast every morning from a K-cup. Have you considered rewarding those of us who have embraced the Keurig?
Can someone help me out on this question? I am a new member and I am confused on where you can earn rewards. Do all purchases at a Starbucks earn a star? Where I work we have a starbucks on property and they say they are not a participator? ) in a hotel/casino. Do they mean they do not participate in redemption of the star rewards? But can I still earn them there?
Thanks
Several months ago (July I think) I registered for your $10. gift (e card I think) that I was suppose to get after purchasing four bags of Starbucks coffee. I purchased and registered for this on your website, BUT I have never received any thing nor do I know what happened. Can anyone help me ?? I bought four bags of coffee and registered four numbers.
Also do future purchases and numbers count??? Can I add then to my account and HOW????
Help needed desperately!
Starbucks lover,
Elaine Criscione
I also did the store bought Starbucks stickers, and entered them as instructed. Just waiting for the new $10 gift card to post on my rewards. When will this happen?
I bought a bag with this sticker on it and was very excited to try it out. After some effort I managed to pry the sticker open and then went online to try the code out. Well it says my code is invalid and I am very upset about this. I tried it many times, and I’m starting to freak out about it.
Jimmy I have the same problem. I go to SAM’s Club and buy the big whole bean coffee and I have three of the stickers from previous bags and none of the work! I called the 800 # from the SB web page and they put two stars on my account but had no explanation as to why the codes would not work.
Re:Invalid number when inputting codes, I thought I had this problem until I logged out and returned; the coupons had been credited.
No it looks like the code entry does not even work anymore. After you go to the mange card section, there is a box that says “enter a code”. yo click on it and the page refreshes. The web page url says something about invalid blah blah blah. Guess have to contact customer support and have them do some work.
Today, I entered two (2) codes from the grocery store bags and had no problems.
FYI:
Do not enter codes from coffee bags to redeem rewards. You must bring the bag into the store to get the free cup of coffee…
I learned this the hard was – was very excited to enter the 7 numbers we had accumulated. Bought a single medium (you can use rewards for any kind of purchase) came back two days later – points gone.
I thought it was kind of brilliant to offer the use of smartphone app – SINCE I NOW HAVE ONE! – just be advised. 70 dollars is a lot of $ for me and I have really enjoyed the free cups I hoard up for road trips or on the fly coffee.
How motivated am I to continue buying SB? I can go to peet’s (love) for beans and get a free coffee there for a bit more $$
I recently started using a Starbucks card, and I haven’t seen any products that offer rewards, even at Starbucks. Do they still do this? And it they do, what stores carry these products? Thanks!
Just to let you know the star rewards on the coffee bags are only available to USA card holders. If you have a Canadian card you cannot get ‘star’ credit for the purchase of grocery store coffee in the US.
I purchased starbucks in grocery store and put in my reward code but I don’t get anything, just how does this or does this work
Bought a Starbucks 12 ounce bag at QFC, with the gold sticker and a note on the bag for a free coffee if bag were brought in to a starbucks outlet. I tried to redeem the star code (which t numbers I have done many times) but I was told it had alreadynbeenredeemed! So I retried being careful to put in the right numbers and letters, and once again I was told it had already been redeemed! I struggled to remove it from the bag so it did not appear to have been removed and then replaced.
I went to website and was not able to enter the code. It said offer was expired but on coupon it says not expired until one yr from coffee best by date which would be 2015
I have had great success with the stars from Krogers, but every one I (or my wife) have bought at Sam’s Club has been invalid. I like the big bag savings, but I also like the occasional free latte… Decisions, decisions! I guess I can understand why they wouldn’t want to pay out for whole beans that are already selling at a slim margin, but it’s still a hefty purchase, especially since you get a star for a tall Pike’s Place. Either way, why put the stickers on the bags if they aren’t going to be honored?
I have tried and tried for the past month and IT DOESNT WORK, they should allow you to go to Starbucks store and get your drink
Just entered this code for five stars. Worked fine.
MCATALINH
MCATALINK and MCATALINM free codes 5 points each
Hi Michelle – That’s amazing you get 5 stars with one code! Where are you getting these 5 star codes. I’ve seen them turn up on a FB closed group that I run too. I’m baffled: Where are these codes coming from?
i saw them posted on a friends wall and figured i’d share them here, hey can i join your closed FB group? My FB name is Shelby Lynn from Goodyear AZ
It seems like the codes are all similar except one letter. I used MCATALINK and MCATALINM yesterday for 10 stars and MCATALINN and MCATALINH today for 10 stars. The stars from yesterday didn’t show up until today though, so there must be some delay in applying the star codes. I figure tomorrow I’ll try again and just keep changing the last letter 😉