Starbucks will add blockchain assets to its customer reward programme. What is known about it?
The Web3 industry will be an important part of Starbucks’ future rewards programme, according to the chain’s CEO Howard Schultz. He says the initiative will allow Starbucks to build on its existing customer rewards model while introducing new methods of emotional customer engagement, expanding its approach to realising a ‘digital community’. We tell you more about what’s happening.
As a reminder, Web3 is the next generation of the Internet, with the end user at its centre. A distinctive feature of this sphere is the use of NFT-tokens and blockchain in general. As a result, participants in the renewed web are able not only to create value within certain projects, but also to fully own the assets within them. Accordingly, the same meta-villages will essentially allow you to work in a virtual space and make real money.
Who supports the industry Web3
The Starbucks executive gave a little more detail during the publication of the company’s earnings report for the second quarter of this year. Here’s one of his quotes, published by news outlet Decrypt.
We are working on a very exciting new digital initiative that builds on our existing industry-leading digital platform. It will feature innovative ways of rewarding customers, with coffee and, most importantly, loyalty at its heart.
That is, the head of the company has made it clear that customer engagement and loyalty will be rewarded. And since the giant's representatives mentioned the Web3 world, that means it's sure to come down to NFT tokens and digital assets in general.
Some of Starbucks’ rewards involve a native offering and payment cards
Details about Starbucks’ future policies are still scarce, but Schultz promised to reveal more details on September 13, during an Investor Day in Seattle. According to the CEO, the rewards programme will include unique consumer experiences and Starbucks-branded digital collectibles that will be both rewarding and a community-building element. He continues.
All of this will deliver an entirely new set of tools for digital network effects that will attract new customers and appeal to existing customers in our network of establishments.
Starbucks share price from earlier this year
However, Web3 initiatives are not as brightly enthusiastic for some Starbucks employees. In particular, in May 2022, there was a presentation internally about the prospects of integrating NFT tokens into the giant’s operations. At the time, a member of the technical department, who identified himself as Mark, expressed opposition to the policy because of concerns about the environmental impact of unique tokens. Here’s his rejoinder.
Blockchain, whether Proof-of-Stake or Proof-of-Work, is not positive for the planet. It will destroy the planet. As a technologist, and not just me, I am very concerned about the company’s new initiatives.
Note that such an approach is far too exaggerated. At the very least PoS networks use minimum energy and have no impact on the environment. For some reason, Mark did not mention other areas of human activity that consume much more resources of the planet. Apparently, he is simply an opponent of digital assets and sees them as nothing more than a pyramid scheme, which is wrong in itself.
Mark is also concerned about the inclusivity of popular NFT collections. Only a “select few” can own such tokens – those who can afford to spend several hundred thousand dollars per NFT. These are the values that the minimum token price of popular collections like CryptoPunks or Bored Ape Yacht Club reaches today.
Minimum value of representatives of popular NFT-collections today
However, this point of view is erroneous as well. The fact is that the named NFT collections have become so popular and expensive over time. For example, at the launch stage, members of the BAYC line were selling for 0.08 ETH, which is an absolutely insignificant amount. However, in order to buy tokens among the first, one had to be at least actively interested in what was happening in the industry.
While some brands are actively pursuing Web3, others have to give up innovation. Tinder, the popular online dating app, belongs to the latter camp. The Match Group parent company had just published poor results in its financial statements, causing the platform to cut funding for its Web3 division, fire current CEO Renata Nieborg, and abandon the idea of developing its own digital currency, TinderCoins, altogether.
Tinder CEO Renate Nieborg
Recall that Nieborg was the first female director of Tinder, and it was she who proposed plans for a virtual universe for dating called Tinderverse. Match Group CEO Bernard Kim at a recent investor conference did not disclose detailed reasons for Nieborg’s dismissal, but stressed that Tinder had “failed expectations of monetisation success” in the past few quarters, Cointelegraph reported.
Tinder
Overall, Match Group isn’t giving up on the idea of a meta-universe for Tinder just yet, but company executives have opted to “wait for better times” to launch it. And that’s probably a good thing – the cryptocurrency market is going through bad times right now, so even promising new meta-universe projects may not have the proper hype among investors at all.
We think the attention of such big companies to the blockchain industry speaks volumes. Apparently, they have no doubts about their own clients' connection with those NFT tokens, so they are willing to bet on the development of this sphere now, when the market is inside a bearish trend.
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