US: Starbucks to update its rewards program – How do customers currently redeem their points?

From February 13, 2023 onwards, Starbucks will bring into effect certain changes to its loyalty program and how patrons can redeem their rewards. The company’s updated terms of use have doubled the required “stars” customers need to redeem a free coffee, tea, bakery item or snack. On the other hand, several items can be redeemed at a lower reward cost than before. For example, an iced coffee/tea will cost 50 stars less and the points needed for a packaged coffee will be reduced by 100 stars

Why and how do Starbucks customers’ redeem loyalty points?

According to YouGov Profiles - which covers demographic, psychographic, attitudinal and behavioral consumer metrics - nearly a third (32%) of Starbucks’ customers collect rewards/points to get a higher value reward, and 18% of customers redeem points at the earliest opportunity.

Starbucks customers (25%) are less likely to not subscribe to any loyalty program as opposed to almost four in 10 (37%) of the general US population.

Data shows that most Starbucks’ consumers (53%) agree with the statement that they “spend more money with brands, when (they) are a member of their loyalty program.” This number outstrips the number of Americans (43%) who agree with the statement.

Whether these attitudes translate to consumers responding well to Starbucks’ updated rewards scheme come February, is to be seen.

Explore our living data - for free

Discover more retail content here   

Want to run your own research? Run a survey now 

Make smarter business decisions with better intelligence. Understand exactly what your audience is thinking by leveraging our panel of 20 million+ members. Speak with us today.

Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for the US is nationally and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.