Starbucks is immediately formally introducing Starbucks Odyssey, launching later this 12 months — the espresso chain’s first foray into constructing with web3 know-how. The brand new expertise combines the corporate’s profitable Starbucks Rewards loyalty program with an NFT platform, permitting its prospects to each earn and buy digital property that unlock unique experiences and rewards.
The corporate had earlier teased its web3 plans to buyers, saying it believed this new expertise would construct on the present Starbucks Rewards mannequin the place prospects immediately earn “stars” which will be exchanged for perks, like free drinks. It envisions Starbucks Odyssey as a means for its most loyal prospects to earn a broader set of rewards whereas additionally constructing neighborhood.
To develop the venture, Starbucks introduced in Adam Brotman, the architect of its Cell Order & Pay system and the Starbucks app, to assist function a particular advisor. Now the co-founder of Forum3, a web3 loyalty startup, Brotman’s workforce labored on Starbucks Odyssey alongside the Seattle espresso chain’s personal advertising and marketing, loyalty, and know-how groups.
Whereas Starbucks had been investigating blockchain applied sciences for a few years, it has solely been concerned on this specific venture for round six months, Starbucks CMO Brady Brewer advised TechCrunch. He says the corporate wished to take a position on this space, however not as a “stunt” aspect venture, as many corporations are doing. Reasonably, it wished to discover a means to make use of the know-how to boost its enterprise and broaden its current loyalty program.
It opted to make NFTs the passes that enable entry to this digital neighborhood, but it surely’s deliberately obscuring the character of the know-how underpinning the expertise with a purpose to convey in additional shoppers — together with non-technical folks — to the web3 platform.
“It occurs to be constructed on blockchain and web3 applied sciences, however the buyer — to be trustworthy — might very properly not even know that what they’re doing is interacting with blockchain know-how. It’s simply the enabler,” Brewer explains.
To interact with the Starbucks Odyssey expertise, Starbucks Rewards members will log in to the online app utilizing their current loyalty program credentials.
As soon as there, they’ll be capable to have interaction with varied actions, which Starbucks referred to as “journeys” — like enjoying interactive video games or taking up challenges designed to deepen their information of the Starbucks model or espresso basically. As they full these journeys, members can early digital collectibles within the type of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Starbucks Odyssey, nonetheless, does away with the tech lingo and calls these NFT collectibles “journey stamps” as an alternative.
Moreover, a set of limited-edition NFTs can be accessible to buy within the Starbucks Odyessy internet app, which additionally works on cell units. Although hosted on the Polygon blockchain, these NFTs can be purchased utilizing a credit score or debit card — a crypto pockets shouldn’t be required. The corporate believes this may make it simpler for shoppers to interact with the web3 expertise by decreasing the barrier to entry. It additionally gained’t complicate shoppers’ transactions with issues like “fuel charges,” preferring to supply a bundled value.
The corporate shouldn’t be but able to share what its NFTs will value or what number of can be accessible at launch, saying these are choices which can be nonetheless being ironed out.
Nevertheless, the varied “stamps” (NFTs) will embrace a degree worth primarily based on their rarity and will be purchased or bought amongst Starbucks Odyessy members within the market, with the possession secured on the blockchain. The paintings on the NFTs is being co-created by Starbucks and outdoors artists, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the limited-edition collectibles can be donated to assist causes chosen by Starbucks staff and prospects.
By gathering the stamps, members will acquire factors that may unlock unique advantages.
These perks transcend these you possibly can earn with a standard Starbucks Rewards account and its “stars.” Whereas immediately, members can earn issues like free espresso, free meals, or choose merchandise, the factors earned in Starbucks Odyessy will translate into experiences and different advantages.
Picture Credit: Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia (opens in a brand new window)
On the decrease finish, that may very well be a digital espresso martini-making class or entry to distinctive merchandise and artist collaborations. As you acquire extra factors, it’s possible you’ll earn invitations to particular occasions hosted at Starbucks Reserve Roasteries, and even earn a visit to the Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia espresso farm in Costa Rica. It’s anticipated the very largest perks can be reserved for many who buy NFTs, although lesser variations could also be supplied to those that earn their means up.
As an illustration, a paid NFT might supply the complete journey bundle and farm tour, whereas an earned NFT might supply the tour alone with flights and accommodations left as much as the person. The corporate hasn’t made any formal choices on this entrance, nonetheless.
However what the corporate can say is that it desires to deeply combine this system with its current loyalty rewards, past merely utilizing the identical person account credentials for each applications.
Brewer says Starbucks is already imagining how a number of the actions that earn NFTs can be related to real-world Starbucks purchases, as an illustration.
In Odyssey, customers earn NFTs by doing challenges, which could additionally embrace a real-world exercise like “strive three issues on the espresso menu.” This may require the person to point out their barcode at checkout — as they’d if incomes stars — to have their transaction counted in the direction of the Starbuck Odyssey problem. The corporate continues to be figuring out what mixture of video games, challenges, and quests it would embrace at launch.
“However we’ll have experiences that do hyperlink on to prospects’ conduct in our shops,” Brewer stresses. Most significantly, the corporate desires to make gaining NFTs one thing anybody can do — not simply these with cash to blow on digital collectibles, as is usually the case with present NFT communities, which value out the common person.
“There can be a number of methods for folks to earn [rewards] with out having to spend some huge cash,” says Brewer. “We need to make this tremendous simple and accessible. There can be loads of on a regular basis experiences prospects can earn like digital lessons or entry to restricted version merchandise, as an illustration. “The vary of experiences can be fairly huge and really accessible,” he provides.
Starbucks says it explored all of the completely different blockchains for the venture however landed on the “proof-of-stake” blockchain know-how constructed by Polygon for this effort as a result of it makes use of much less power than first-generation “proof-of-work” blockchains, which is extra according to its dialog targets.
Picture Credit: Starbucks (opens in a brand new window)
The thought to enter into the world of web3 is smart for an organization identified for benefiting from rising applied sciences and making them extra approachable and simple for shoppers to entry. In years previous, Starbucks launched Wi-Fi in its shops to encourage prospects to spend extra time throughout visits. It additionally pushed the concept of cell wallets lengthy earlier than Apple Pay grew to become ubiquitous. And it made cell ordering the norm properly forward of the Covid pandemic, when different restaurant chains picked it up.
However one criticism leveraged towards many conventional companies once they enter the web3 market is that they’re approaching it as a advertising and marketing stunt, not an actual endeavor. Starbucks, in fact, argues that’s the case right here — however solely time will inform how severe its curiosity could also be.
“We’re bullish on the way forward for these applied sciences enabling experiences that weren’t potential earlier than,” Brewer claims. The intention is to be versatile and transfer with the shoppers because the web3 market adjustments, he explains. “It’s actually necessary that we’re it for the long-term,” he continues. “However, on condition that we’re plugging it into our industry-leading, huge scale rewards program — we’re dedicated,” he says.
The corporate says its web3 platform will open its waitlist (waitlist.starbucks.com) on September 12 and can launch later within the 12 months. It should take away the waitlist and open the platform extra broadly someday subsequent 12 months.
