Green Members Can Now Exchange Stars for Coupons
Customers Can Directly Choose Their Preferred Benefits
On May 8, Starbucks Korea announced that it will overhaul its membership program, "Starbucks Rewards," for the first time in 14 years. The renewal, which will take effect from June 17, focuses on significantly enhancing benefits for each membership tier and expanding the range of eligible customers.
With this update, the "Star" reward coupon benefit, which was previously available only to Gold tier members, will be extended to Green tier members as well. In addition, Gold tier members will be able to use their Stars to choose discount coupons for food or MD (merchandise) products, in addition to existing beverage rewards.
Starbucks Rewards consists of three tiers: Welcome, Green, and Gold. Collecting five Stars upgrades a member to Green tier, and earning an additional 25 Stars from Green tier upgrades the member to Gold tier. Currently, Gold tier members receive an automatic free beverage coupon after collecting 12 Stars, or can use the "Magical 8 Star" program to redeem basic beverages such as Americano or Latte with eight Stars.
Going forward, instead of automatic coupon issuance, members will be able to directly select and redeem the coupons they want based on the number of Stars they have. Gold tier members will have more options, including size-up coupons and food or MD discount coupons, in addition to free beverage coupons. At the same time, Green tier members will also be able to use their Stars for basic beverage coupons or size-up coupons, effectively expanding the range of benefits available to them.
A Starbucks representative explained, "This update is aimed at expanding customer choice and creating a more user-centric rewards system," adding, "While the automatic issuance system will end, it will allow for more flexible benefit design."
Starbucks will also transition the "Magical 8 Star" program, which has been operated as a pilot, into a regular program. Given the high customer satisfaction over the past year, the program is expected to become a core rewards feature with this update.
Based on its rewards membership, which recently surpassed 14 million members, Starbucks is also introducing a variety of regular programs. In May last year, it launched Magical 8 Star, followed by the university student benefit program "Hello, Student" in September, and the beverage subscription service "Buddy Pass" in October. Since February this year, Starbucks has been offering the "One More Coffee" service, which provides a discount on a second coffee, and since last month, it has been running the "Evening Event," which offers discounts on decaffeinated beverages after 5 p.m.
Lee Sangmi, head of marketing at Starbucks, said, "With this update, customers will be able to enjoy rewards benefits without restrictions based on membership tier, which will further increase customer engagement," adding, "We will continue to analyze customer needs based on data to enhance membership satisfaction."
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