Oh Starbucks: How I Love You So Much

For those of you that know me, it comes as no surprise that I'm a huge Starbucks fan and have raved about their loyalty program and app since its launch.  As I mentioned in the Walgreens post, Starbucks pioneered the use of the barcode scanner on a mobile device to make using the loyalty program a breeze.  

Perusing through my emails this morning, I opened one from Starbucks announcing new features to the program that make it faster, tastier and quicker than before.  Make your calendars for Tuesday, October 16 to take advantage of these new benefits.  

• Users now only have to accumulate 12 stars as opposed to 15.
• Stars will now include purchases on both food AND drink.  
• The reward is loaded immediately onto your app (or physical card for those non-app users) meaning we no longer have to wait for snail mail! 

With the changes happening less than a week after Apple announced their new iPhone 5 I can't help but applaud Starbucks on the strategic timing of their upgrades.  According to CNET, over 2 million orders have already placed.  Coincidence?  I think not.  

Walgreens Launches Loyalty Program

Say it's finally so!  As I perused my Facebook news feed over lunch I came across a post from Walgreens announcing their new loyalty program, Balanced Rewards.  I'm sure most people could care less but I may have flashed a little smile.  

One might ask why does this make me happy?  For one, I'm thrilled that I'll now start to accumulate free money when I have to purchase those "must haves" like toilet paper and shampoo which are frequently from Walgreens.  I mean who wouldn't want to be rewarded when you literally pay money to put trash in garbage bags to be thrown out?!  

All joking aside, Walgreens is a retailer who's made leaps and bounds in the social space and it's great to see a loyalty program being integrated into their social efforts.  When I opened my Walgreens app on my iPhone sign up consisted of entering a zip, phone number, and DOB while the rest of my registration info pulled from my existing profile.  The best part is that unlike other loyalty programs who may have been first to market, you don't have to have another key fob on the ring.  Much like Starbucks, Walgreens has incorporated a barcode that can be scanned right from your smartphone.  

The one downside of the launch is that it appears the program has not rolled out into their stores yet.  On the flipside, kudos to Walgreens for generating the buzz early.  I'll let you know if my smile comes back in store in 10 days.