Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said Web3 will play a role in the future of Starbucks’ popular rewards program.
“We are working on very exciting new digital initiatives that will build on our existing industry-leading digital platform in revolutionary new ways – all centered around coffee and most importantly, loyalty. I’m doing it” .
Schultz said the company will announce new digital initiatives at its annual event on Sept. 13. investor day event in Seattle.
According to Schultz, the initiative will allow Starbucks to build on its current reward engagement model while introducing new ways to emotionally engage customers, expanding its “digital third place community” approach and offering a wider range of rewards. will be
‘third place‘ is a sociological term for the community space between home and work.
The CEO said these rewards will include one-of-a-kind experiences and Starbucks-branded digital collectibles as both rewards and community-building elements.
“This creates a whole new set of digital network effects that will attract new customers and increase existing customers for core retailers,” he said.
However, Starbucks’ relationship with the Web3 initiative has not lived up to the enthusiasm of its employees. In May, in a presentation that included a section on his NFT, a proprietary blockchain token that indicates ownership of assets, employee Giving only his first name “Mark” and describing himself as a technologist, he has spoken out against the company’s plans, citing the environmental impact of NFTs.
“Whether it is Proof of Stake or Proof of Work, blockchain is not Planet Positive…it is going to destroy the planet…and it worries me very much as a techie. “I don’t want to feel this way about Starbucks,” he said.
Mark also argued that NFTs are exclusive rather than inclusive.
Some NFT collections have become high value or “fine” collectibles. Most notable is the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection.Last month, pop icon Madonna When she said, “I was desperate to get an Ape and was really specific about what I wanted: a leather motorcycle hat and an Ape with multicolored teeth.”
The monkey in question, Bored Ape #3756, was listed on OpenSea and was priced at 800.69 ETH, approximately $1.27 million at the time.
More than four years ago, Starbucks said,bean toe cup“A traceability project to help smallholder farmers.
It remains to be seen if customers, employees or investors will embrace this latest Web3 initiative. But Schultz sees it as part of a larger transformation planned for the giant company.
“I look forward to fully showcasing the power and opportunity of our reinvention plan,” he said.
