Starbucks wants to make you even more monogamous — Behold the Loyalty Wars

My lil' pumpkin spice Frappuccino... Starbucks wants more of your monogamous coffee love. To make sure that all 67 of the cold brews you consume per week come from its stores, Starbs launched its mobile reward program in 2009. It was a pioneer in the (then new) world of reward apps. Now it has sneakily become the fintech product of caffeine:

• Over 19M Americans are active Starbucks Rewards Members. In 2019, the Starbucks Rewards app was the most popular mobile payment app in the US.
• A shocking 48% of Starbucks' sales in May came from Rewards members thanks to corona-conomy mobile orders.

Getting even more intimate... with your wallet. Before, you had to digitally preload a Starbucks Rewards card to pay. Starbucks just announced you can link your credit/debit card and pay directly in-app this fall. You can also order on mobile, then pay with cash in person and still get "Stars". FYI: the new payment options give you half the points you'd get using a preloaded card.

• Defining the relationship with customers is more important than ever when Starbucks expects sales to fall ~15% this year. Mobile-order perks are a way to reignite the spark at reopened locations.
• Starbucks isn't the only one putting a ring on it: Wendy's just became the 1st big burger chain to launch a food-based rewards program. Panera, which has a whopping 40M loyalty members, is giving MyPanera+ Coffee subscribers unlimited brews through fall.