For all you techies and coffee lovers out there, today is your lucky day. Starbucks has just announced that they are now accepting payment plans via Starbucks mobile app. This works just like a regular Starbucks gift card that has been transferred to your phone, would work. You have a choice of either setting up the account via credit card or PayPal. When it comes time to pay, you take your Smartphone and hold the app-generated picture of a barcode to the scanner at the register.
According to Starbucks, this new method of payment is the fastest, and most convenient yet, allowing customers to be in and out - which is always when a plus when your in a hurry and in desperate need of a caffeine rush. Starbucks has fully leveraged its role in mobile app all across the country – over 6800 stores in the U.S to be exact. They strongly believe that this strategy is extremely beneficial to them. When a customer has an app dedicated to a single coffee shop, they are more prone to going back there when they need a cup of coffee. Not only is this a brilliant approach to gain customer loyalty, but this will also reduce credit card transaction costs for the company. Less credit card transactions means less fees the company has to pay.
If this new method of payment turns out to be a success for the company, they will definitely have to deal with other competitors launching this payment strategy as well. This revolutionizing concept is great for all you tech savvy, cant live, cant breathe without your phone - people out there, but for those who are not, its probably about time you jump on the bandwagon. Sooner than later, we are going to no longer need to carry around credit cards, money, or any other method of payment out there. All we will need is a palm-size, electronic device that will do just about everything for us.
I think less credit card fees for the companies from where we are consuming is always good for us. This means that if the majority of Starbucks' consumers start to use this mobile payment application, hopefully their prices will go a little bit down since they have to pay less fees to the credit card companies.
ReplyDeleteStarbucks has come up with this amazing branding strategy to attract new customers and maintain loyal their current ones. Like you said, probably in a not very far future, they will face competitors using these same application, but Starbucks being the first one has a great advantage among them.
Shame on me for forgetting about the credit card transaction fees the company must pay. Anywho I think when the company launched this idea, I think what they had in mind was when it's the busy time in their places, even though whenever I went to one, it never seems busy at all. Nonetheless I still believe for this to be a fad.
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