Starbucks gives out Odyssey reward NFTs. Will coffee drinkers care?

Let’s assume that most Starbucks SBUX Rewards members are regular coffee drinkers. How many people would be willing to give up a free Grande Pumpkin Latte for a non-fungible token or NFTNFT?

Starbucks is clearly interested in finding out. The coffee giant is testing an ambitious expansion of its Starbucks Rewards program through December 2022, called Starbucks Odyssey, asking regular Grande Americano-with-room drinkers if they’d like to go on a trip with Starbucks. want.

By completing these journeys – online games, quizzes and activities – members earn “collectible ‘Travel Tickets’ [NFTs] and “Odyssey Points” that provide “access to immersive coffee experiences they can’t get anywhere else,” Starbucks explained in a December 2022 news post. Members can share their experiences and their earned NFTs in a digital community connected to Odyssey .

The test, which is starting in phases for waitlisted members and staff, should find out how many members are willing to travel for NFTs. So far, tickets have reportedly been hot among at least a section of the testing community. Can you guess which one?

Which comes first, crypto or coffee?

If you guessed cryptocurrency enthusiasts, you are correct. These investors have been eager participants in the Starbucks odyssey, thanks to NFT reward bait.

This is because NFTs are typically held on cryptocurrency blockchains; Starbucks tickets are on PolygonMATIC. Here’s an example of that crypto/NFT excitement: In the spring, when Starbucks Odyssey offered test members the chance to purchase tickets for $100 each instead of earning them through travel — as Time reported, minutes 2,000 tickets were sold within 24 hours.

Buyers clearly bet that the value of NFTs will increase. Sure enough, according to Decrypt, many of the Starbucks tickets were sold on the secondary market for a nice profit, at around $2,000 a piece.

Still, it’s unclear whether the Odyssey trial is inspiring Starbucks Rewards members to adopt NFTs as a benefit, or whether it’s simply attracting more NFT and cryptocurrency fans to become Starbucks Rewards members. .

Executive Brady Brewer introduced the NFT-based rewards program, Starbucks Odyssey, during Starbucks Investor Day in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

An odyssey to new limits of loyalty

Is Starbucks Odyssey the model for the next generation of loyalty programs? With 31.4 million active U.S. members, Starbucks Rewards certainly has the size to potentially make a difference.

So let’s unpack the elements of the odyssey and see what happens on the journey.

Better member understanding. Activities in the Odyssey test are designed to keep members engaged for extended periods of time and may be designed to learn specific information about member preferences. Some “challenges” require purchases to be made over several weeks or months or from multiple locations. All that data is automatically tracked and recorded through the loyalty app. These insights can inform strategies that transform Starbucks’ existing rewards structure into something richer for the company and its members. Starbucks said in its December 2022 announcement that it would collaborate with members and employees to “co-create the future of experience.” However, if only a small portion of total members remain engaged, the value of the insights is limited.