Why should we care about Starbucks' Web3 experiment?

Original author: DAO enthusiast, @cwweb3

Original title: "Starbucks' Web3 Experiment"

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On September 12, Starbucks announced some details of the Odyssey plan based on Web3 technology and opened applications. This is a plan that combines NFT with the existing membership card system. Web3 technology unlocks new scenarios. This plan may have a greater impact on users and the industry than we think. It was also a particularly brave attempt.

Coffee is not an ordinary commodity in the European and American markets. People’s needs and emotions for coffee are far greater than ordinary consumer goods. If the coffee machine in the office breaks down one day, it will be included in the category of office emergence, which is far from being comparable to ordinary consumer products. As Starbucks is the coffee brand with the highest market share, this Web3 attempt can be said to have really cut into everyone's daily life.

A little-known fact is- the Starbucks app is the second largest mobile payment app in the US market (31 million users), second only to Apple Pay (43 million 10,000), while Google Play (25 million) can only rank third. The financial report just released in August showed that Starbucks had 27.4 million active members in the United States in the last quarter, contributing 53% of its revenue. In other words, the member loyalty system and membership app are not the icing on the cake of Starbucks, but one of Starbucks' fundamental systems. This is also the most successful member loyalty program in the world, and it has been emulated by countless brands. Now Starbucks is going to experiment based on its own basic system.

Why Starbucks

Although Starbucks is a coffee company, Starbucks’ member app payment system And the user loyalty system has always been the world's leading. Behind this success is a large amount of technological investment and exploration of various scenarios. Starbucks' membership system is far from being as simple as saving enough stars for coffee. It achieves large-scale personalization through big data and AI, and uses gamification experience to deepen the connection with customers, and finally gives customers personalized rewards. Such a plan has generated a lot of viscosity and is being imitated by a large number of brands.

What to unlock with NFT

In the future Starbucks APP, NFT is based on "stamp appears in the form of . This stamp can be obtained through special tasks, such as participating in online coffee courses, or continuously punching in different nearby stores. Such tasks are called "journeys".

Stamps here play a role similar to POAP. Some limited edition stamps can also be obtained through purchases in the APP. This market will also support two-way stamp sales between members, and the stamps will be issued on Polygon. By introducing a series of new scenarios such as stamps, members will not only have a relationship with the brand, but also have a lot of interactions between members.

There is also a concept of partner/partner (Partner) in this system. The official communication clearly mentioned that this character is actually an employee of Starbucks. It's not clear what level of employee gets the partner role. I guess it should be that all Starbucks store employees can apply, and as partners, these employees have the opportunity to use their abilities to create some unique experiences and form a part of the ecosystem. (No basis, blind guess)

Starbucks has always been known as a third space outside of home and office. And through the Odyssey plan, the Starbucks app will no longer be a payment and points application. Starbucks aims to turn it into a digital third space supported by Web3 technology. Here, brands, members and partners (employees) because of coffee People's loves come together and connect through a variety of unique experiences that truly form a community.

Additional Details

Although NFT was mentioned several times in the press release, in In the app, Starbucks is avoiding the use of NFT as much as possible (and may completely replace the term). There will also be no wallet concept in the Starbucks app. Those obscure concepts in Web3 are blocked. It is not yet known whether NFT assets are mapped to users in the form of escrow wallets or third-party solutions.

I just met a friend who had contact with the internal memo of Starbucks NFT plan today, and the information given was that some things are still "working hard" to judge whether it is suitable. Based on this information, my guess is that the Web2.5 solution is more likely. It may also be for this reason that Starbucks did not choose to directly NFT the membership card, but used NFT as a new scenario and an extension of the existing membership reward system.

The Starbucks Odyssey project is supported by an external partner called Forum3. Forum3 is in the business of using Web3 technologies to support brand loyalty programs. And one of its founders, Adam, is the former chief digital officer of Starbucks. His main achievement during Starbucks is to lead the related work of Starbucks APP and reach 50 million users around the world. He won the trust of Howard, the founder of Starbucks and now interim CEO, which is an important reason for the success of this cooperation.

Finally, a quote from the current CMO of Starbucks "We're bullish on the future of these technologies enabling experiences that were not possible before. It's really important taht we' re looking at it for the long-term. Given that we're plugging it into our industry-leading, massive scale rewards program- we're committed」

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