For its part, Starbucks says the change reflects the company’s willingness to listen to its customers.
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For customers that spend big on Starbucks’ more expensive drinks, this change probably won’t be too big of a deal.
However, new rewards strategy requires 300 stars, rather than 30, to advance to the Gold level. Once a month, members will get four stars for every $1 they spend. That’s 32 cups of plain coffee. The company’s “buzz” score dropped 50% in eight days, following the announcement that rewards would soon be based on how much money customers spend, according to YouGov BrandIndex, reports CNBC. (Dunkin’ loyalty members usually earn five points per dollar spent, and get a free drink for every 200 points earned.) While Dunkin’s coffee menu doesn’t offer almost the array of Starbucks – though it does have some specialty beverages like salted caramel hot chocolate and the Frappuccino-esque Coolattas – the chain has a loyal following for its simple brewed coffee. “So much better, you actually get rewards that are worth it”.
The firm is also taking a step to placate miffed customers by offering “Gold” status to anyone who makes a purchase over the next several weeks, which translates into free drinks and other benefits. The move apes similar steps taken by many airlines, which have been changing their frequent flier programs to reward dollars spent over miles traveled in a bid to attract higher-spending business travelers over casual flyers.
The app will also began to feature personalized offers based on order history and other factors, and it will introduce more personalized content and features from its strategic partners in the near future, the company says.
Following the update, customers will now see an interactive stars display which responds to users’ touches, along with other changes created to make it easier to track stars and reward levels.
Customers are now able to earn stars outside of Starbucks through Spotify, Lyft and JP Morgan Chase, which backs the Starbucks Rewards prepaid card.
Levy also mentioned Starbucks’ tweak to its loyalty program, which he said could slow down traffic to stores. Last year, American Airlines announced passengers will now earn points based on ticket price instead of distance flown.
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While one of the notable upgrades is the integration of Mobile Order & Pay with Starbucks Rewards (before, members couldn’t redeem rewards when placing mobile orders), the more noticeable change is to the app’s homepage.
