Starbucks Gold Card review
I’ve had the new Starbucks Gold card for a few weeks now and alot of people have been asking me what I think about it and how I got in. I figured a blog entry would be good to catch people up and since I have been in charge or a rewards program before, maybe I can add a few tips for Starbucks.
I was invited into the program early, before it was open to the public, and for free. Great! I love being an early adopter, I love Starbucks, and I’m not going to lie, I like being “that guy” who the baristas say “Ohh, this is a Gold Card.”
After using the card for a few weeks I wanted to give some early feedback, and maybe some information for anybody that is thinking about buying one when they become available November 4th. Starbucks, if you want to hire me for these insights, feel free. :)
Previously to being invited to join the Starbucks Gold Card program I had been a registered Starbucks Card holder since they started giving you free syrups and milks and had been using a Starbucks Card for much longer than that. In fact I have been using the Ichiro card that came out over three years ago until I got the new, slick looking, Gold Card. All that being said, yes, I go to Starbucks a good amount.
So what does the Starbucks Gold card get you? So far it has gotten me 10% off my drinks and food. They say there will be other benefits given online over time, but I haven’t seen anything in the past few weeks. You get 10% off of other products as well and a free drink on your birthday.
Over the last few weeks I have probably earned 2 free drinks (based on saving 10% a drink). To make things easy, let’s say I buy a grande Americano everyday (which I don’t, although I do buy Americanos not the expensive drinks). That would cost me apx. $890 over the year, and with the Starbucks Gold card I would save apx. $89, or roughly 36 free grande Americanos. That’s quite the savings if you ask me, and for a free card (or even a $25 card) it is well worth it. Factor in buying for other people, snacks, gifts, and you could be making back 10X your investment fairly quickly. Sounds great, it is…but is it could easily be better.
Here are the knocks I have with the card;
- You don’t get refills, even though it is a registered card.
- You don’t get free Soy or Syrups, even if you have registered the card.
I guess those are the only two knocks that I have on the Gold card, but trying to be an elite or somewhat exclusive program they should take care of these benefits that they already offer to other “registered” card holders.
What does this mean on your bottom line? If you buy Soy drinks of any size, get coffee refills, or buy tall or short drinks with syrups the registered card, as opposed to the Gold Card, is actually is a better deal. For me, being an Americano drinker who likes refills it has actually led to me having to carry two Starbucks cards. To save money on the Americano I use the Gold Card, then when it’s time for my refill I use the registered card. You can call me cheap if you’d like, but if you know me you know it comes down to the principal of the program and the benefits.
Why doesn’t Starbucks just let the registered Gold Card members get free syrups, milk upgrades, and of course the refills? Obviously the Gold Card members are loyal and with the special invites going out Starbucks wants these card carriers them feel valued. Not taking care off these small details will hurt the overall experience for those who buy the Gold Card and make them question if they should join, or if joining was the right choice.
Overall I love the program, but would love these small changes made. Not only to save me the hassle and the money but to also make me, as a Gold Card member, feel just that much more exclusive than I was as a regular “registered” Starbucks Card holder.
Starbucks happy hour becomes a reality
Starbucks finally listened to me!*
Back on December 12 of last yearI wrote a piece in response to an Ad Age article that was sent to me by faithful commenter TD. As I said at the time, I think Starbucks should offer a happy hour. It would help their stock bounce back as it would lure a new audience at a slow time of their business. Simply offer discounted drinks from 5-6:30 to get people to stop by Starbucks rather than a bar to catch up after work and before dinner.
Well, last week “kyle” commented on that post saying that there is a store in Houston that is offering a happy hour of kinds.
“This just in… There is one Starbucks in Houston actually doing a happy hour. I know this to be true, because I work at it. In the Northwest Part of Houston, in the Willowbrook area Starbucks has Happy Hour between 5pm-7pm EVERYDAY (yes Sat and Sun, too). All Frappuccinos are 50% off!
Address 7606 FM 1960W Houston TX 77070″
Luckily, a good friend of mine, and fellow Starbuck’s fan lives in Houston and was able to go check out what “kyle” had reported on this here site. For the full report checkout Lach’s post here. As Lach did some investigative reporting this is brief report on if this was a test market, or what was going on with this new Starbucks happy hour.
“The employees working there said it was this store only, and not a push from corporate. They just printed the signs and started selling half off frapps during happy hour that Monday. They did seem nervous about all my questions, but they should be. The Mother Ship will not be pleased. They run a tight ship and don’t generally give stores flexibility over pricing.”
Well, we’ll see how long THAT happy hour lasts. I doubt that the Starbucks Support Center will be a fan of hearing about a rouge Starbucks offering half price drinks. I bet it’s working out well for “Frap” sales as well as overall store sales, but unless they have phenomenal numbers, I have a feeling this is going to go the way of the Iced Coffee’s in stores.
Thanks for the tip kyle and the follow up Lach! Howard, please bring this offer to the masses!
*Starbucks probably did not listen to me in particular.
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Things I hope Starbucks announces today
I know most people usually do this with Steve Jobs, but I’m a big fan of Starbucks and am really looking forward to the coming announcements from Howard on what the future holds for Starbucks.
Here are the things I am hoping to see unveiled today. Some I think we might see, some might be wishful thinking.
- Clover’s in every Starbucks. Or at least in higher volume stores. (The Clover is a machine that Starbucks has been test marketing in a few stores in Seattle and Boston that makes a fresh coffee press in 1 minute. It makes great brewed coffee that is similar to a french press.)
- Anew customer loyalty plan of some kind. Not a typical buy 10 get 1 free, but hopefully something new and innovative.
- More coverage. It’s a tough move to make, but Howard Behar made the move when he was working with Howard and it certainly paid off. Having more than 2 people actually working of the first hour and and last hour of operations seems to be key.
- An actual make your own Starbucks Card, not just put a few words in a template.
- That they will close….(I don’t know 75%?) of their license stores when the contracts run out. It would take awhile for this to take place, but it has to start somewhere. It has ruined the coffee experience and guided people in the direction of not seeing a difference between Starbucks and McDonalds coffee.
I think those would be some good first steps and I hope to see something along those lines later today. Any other ideas?
Two of my favorite things should come together.
Tomorrow is the Starbucks Annual Meeting, which I really wish I was going to. I’m a shareholder, but with just recently taking a vacation, decided I should be at work, rather than checking out what Howard talks about tomorrow. He’s typically not rolling out as many new and noteworthy things as Steve Jobs, but since it is his first meeting since retaking his role as CEO, it may be the biggest meeting in recent history.
Then this coming Thursday is the beginning of March Madness. The best sporting event of the year that typically does not have Oregon State in it. With the tournament comes office pools and many many brackets being filled out, distributed, and talked about with almost every person you know. I have what I think is my final bracket, but with UCLA having two potential game changing injuries, I may have to change it again tomorrow.
As there is a rumor that Starbucks may be unveiling a customer loyalty program tomorrow it got me thinking as to what this program can, will, and should look like.
Howard Schultz is BACK.
I have not made any secrets about Howard Schultz being one of my favorite CEO’s, even though he had not been the CEO of Starbucks for quite a few years, and not while I had been a fan of the company. Well, today Jim Donald stepped down as Starbucks’ CEO and Howard has said that he will become the CEO for the long term and lead Starbucks back to where it should be.
With the stock price dropping 50% over the past 12 months and hitting a 4 year closing low last Friday Starbucks had to do something to help their stock and this appears to be the biggest step they could have made. Howard took Starbucks out of a bean selling coffee shop in Pike Place to the International company that it has become. Already, the stock has jumped 10% since the announcement and we will see where it goes from here.
Since Howard instilled the original values of the Starbucks Experience, I am looking forward to seeing what will happen over the next 6 months to a year. We will see poor performing stores closed, better training for front line “parnters,” and an overhall on the entire coffee experience. One prediction I will make, some kind of change to the breakfast sadwich stations. They create an aroma that covers the coffee smell that I understand Howard hates. I know they’re a high margin item, but if Howard wants to take back the coffee shop experience, I see a change happening here.
Oh, and for those of you that I asked about investing in SBUX last Friday…man, I wish I would have pulled the trigger. I still think there is alot of room for growth. What do you think, will SBUX bounce back to the high $20′s low $30′s?
HP, AT&T, and Starbucks… Thank you?
I got a package today with a return address of HP but with similar branding for both HP and AT&T. I had no idea what it may be, I have a Blackberry from AT&T and a printer from HP, but could not think of what would have these two companies reaching out to me at the same time. Could it be a present sent from the company? An iPhone? Not from HP. A Blackberry 8300? Again, not from HP. A digital camera? From AT&T, that would be a stretch.
Well, I opened it up to find out what was inside during this holiday season… and to my surprise it was a marketing gimmick with three Starbucks Double Shots inside. Something about how I can get fast service from AT&T, when I buy my new HP computer, I don’t know I didn’t read any of the packaging. Just took out the Double Shots before deciding that this is something that I could and should blog about.
This seems like a very expensive mailing, but maybe I fit the right demographic. I have purchased an HP computer before (7 years ago), I do have a large phone bill sent to me monthly from AT&T, and could it be possible for them to purchase my name from when I registered my Starbucks card? Well, I’m not going to be buying an HP laptop anytime soon (although, they do recommend Business Vista) but I will definitley enjoy the more than $5 in free Starbucks drinks.
If you want to see the pics of the box being opened check out the rest of the entry.
About Otis
I live in Seattle, Washington. I am passionate about working with and interacting with others. My work experience includes marketing, account management, and sales.
I am a huge sports fan who on top of cheering for my favorite teams (Go Beavs!) also appreciates coaching strategy, as well as the marketing behind teams, players, and events.
Personally, I enjoys exploring new cities and areas (particularly small towns) and getting outside and playing.