New system rewards amount spent instead of frequency of purchases with the Starbucks rewards program.
It’s not just the espresso machines steaming at Starbucks. Changes to its customer rewards plan has some frequent visitors near the boiling point.
This month, the ubiquitous coffee company altered its customer rewards program, increasing the number of “stars” customers need to achieve “gold status.” This also directly affects the amount of money they have to spend to be eligible for free food or beverage items.
The company previously awarded one star per visit or transaction, allowing customers to achieve the vaulted gold status as soon as they accumulated 30 stars. Gold members were then eligible for a free item every time they accumulated 12 stars.
Starting in April, Starbucks will award two stars for each dollar spent by a consumer and increase the number of stars required to achieve gold status to 300. Freebies, whether a coffee drink, sandwich or pastry, will now require 125 stars to receive.
The rewards program, which the Seattle-based company launched in 2009, had remained unchanged until now.
The immediate impact will be felt by customers who typically spend only a couple of dollars per visit. Those consumers will need to make many more purchases in order to reach the desired level. But, according to CNN Money, customers who spend on average $5 per visit will benefit most because they can reach gold status in about 30 visits.
To get a free item, according to the Los Angeles Times, a customer will have to spend $62.50 once they reach the revamped gold tier.
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According to the Times, Starbucks’ rewards program is actually on the rise with more than 11 million members currently, a 23 percent increase from 2014. The announced changes will impact Starbucks franchises in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.
Reaction to the announcement, particularly on social media, has been swift and resoundingly negative. The company has said the change is, in part, due to customer demand.
“This loyal customer is beyond angry – cut rewards for everyone averaging under $5.20 and claim it’s a response to our requests?!” one Twitter user posted.
Another Twitter user echoed the same sentiment – “That’s inflation, not incentive.”
David Morrison, a longtime customer interviewed by the Chicago Sun-Times, compared the move to an increasing downgrade in corporate incentive programs.
“I think they’re trying to go the way of the airlines,” Morrison said. “If they take away the incentive to come here, why should we pay the prices they charge? This is expensive coffee. Starbucks is trying to force me to buy something I don’t want.”
For its part, Starbucks officials said the revamped rewards was not meant to weaken its popular program. Matthew Ryan, global chief strategy officer, estimated a small minority of customers – those who request multiple transactions per visit in order to garner more stars – would be impacted the most.
Ryan said those customers, who are estimated to account for about one percent of all transactions, create longer wait times by asking for multiple items to be purchased separately.
