Starbucks describes its blockchain-based loyalty platform and NFT community, Starbucks Odyssey • TechCrunch

Starbucks today officially introduces the Starbucks Odyssey, launching later this year – the coffee chain’s first attempt at building with web3 technology. The new experience combines the company’s successful Starbucks Rewards loyalty program with an NFT platform, which allows customers to both earn and purchase digital assets that unlock exclusive experiences and rewards.

The company had previously teased its web3 plans to investors, saying it believed this new experience would build on the current Starbucks Rewards model where customers currently earn “stars” that can be exchanged for benefits, such as free drinks. It envisions Starbucks Odyssey as a way for its most loyal customers to earn a broader set of rewards while building community.

To develop the project, Starbucks brought in Adam Brotman, the architect of the mobile ordering and payment system and the Starbucks app, to help serve as a special advisor. Now co-founder of Forum3, a web3 loyalty startup, Brotman’s team at Starbucks Odyssey worked alongside the Seattle coffee chain’s own marketing, loyalty and technology teams.

While Starbucks had been investigating blockchain technologies for a couple of years, it has only been involved in this particular project for about six months, Starbucks CMO Brady Brewer told TechCrunch. He says the company wanted to invest in this area, but not as a “stunt” side project, as many companies do. Rather, they wanted to find a way to use technology to improve their business and expand their existing loyalty program.

It chose to make NFTs the passport that gives access to this digital community, but it intentionally hides the nature of the technology that underpins the experience to bring in more consumers – including non-techies – to the web3 platform.

“It happens to be built on blockchain and web3 technologies, but the customer—to be honest—might not even know that what they’re doing is interacting with blockchain technology. It’s just the enablement,” explains Brewer.

To engage in the Starbucks Odyssey experience, Starbucks Rewards members will log into the web app using their existing loyalty program credentials.

Once there, they will be able to participate in various activities, which Starbucks called “journeys” – such as playing interactive games or taking on challenges designed to deepen their knowledge of the Starbucks brand or coffee in general. Upon completing these journeys, members can earn early digital collectibles in the form of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). However, Starbucks Odyssey does away with the technical language and calls these NFT collectibles “travel stamps” instead.

In addition, a set of limited edition NFTs will be available for purchase on the Starbucks Odyessy web app, which also works on mobile devices. Although hosted on the Polygon blockchain, these NFTs will be purchased with a credit or debit card – a crypto wallet is not required. The company believes this will make it easier for consumers to engage in the web3 experience by lowering the barrier to entry. It also doesn’t want to complicate consumers’ transactions with things like “gas taxes,” preferring to offer a flat price.

The company isn’t yet ready to share what the NFTs will cost or how many will be available at launch, saying these are decisions that are still being refined.

However, the various “stamps” (NFTs) will include a point value based on their rarity and can be bought or sold among Starbucks Odyessy members on the marketplace, with ownership secured on the blockchain. The artwork on the NFTs will be co-created by Starbucks and external artists, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the limited-edition collectibles will be donated to support causes chosen by Starbucks employees and customers.

By collecting the stamps, members will earn points that can unlock exclusive benefits.

These benefits go beyond what you can earn with a traditional Starbucks Rewards account and its “stars.” While members can currently earn things like free coffee, free food or select items, the points earned in Starbucks Odyessy will be converted into experiences and other benefits.

Image credit: Starbucks Hacienda Alsace (opens in new window)

At the lower end, it could be a virtual espresso martini hour or access to unique merchandise and artist collaborations. As you earn more points, you can earn invitations to special events held at Starbucks Reserve Roasteries, or even earn a trip to the Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia coffee farm in Costa Rica. It is expected that the very greatest benefits will be reserved for those who purchase NFTs, although smaller versions may be offered to those who earn.

For example, a paid NFT can offer the entire travel package and the farm trip, while an earned NFT can offer the trip alone with flight and hotel left to the user. However, Starbucks has not made any formal decisions on this front.

But what the company can say is that it wants to deeply integrate the program with its existing loyalty rewards, beyond just using the same user account credentials for both programs.

Brewer says Starbucks is already envisioning how some of the activities that earn NFTs will be connected to real Starbucks purchases, for example.

In Odyssey, users earn NFTs by doing challenges, which can also include a real-world activity like “try three things on the espresso menu.” This will require the user to show their barcode at checkout – as they would if they were to earn stars – to have their transaction entered into the Starbuck Odyssey challenge. The company is still deciding what mix of games, challenges and missions it will include at launch.

“But we want experiences with it do connect directly to customers’ behavior in our stores, emphasizes Brewer. Most importantly, the company wants to make getting NFTs something anyone can do — not just those with cash to blow on digital collectibles, as is often the case with current NFT communities, which price out the average user.

“There will be many ways for people to profit [rewards] without having to spend a lot of money, says Brewer. “We want to make this super easy and accessible. There will be many everyday experiences that customers can earn like virtual classes or access to limited edition items, for example. “The range of experiences will be quite large and very accessible,” he adds.

Starbucks says it explored all the different blockchains for the project, but landed on the “proof-of-stake” blockchain technology built by Polygon for this effort because it uses less energy than first-generation “proof-of-work” blockchains, which are more in line with the conversation goals.

Image credit: Starbucks (opens in new window)

The idea of ​​entering the web3 world makes sense for a company known for taking advantage of new technologies and making them more accessible and easy to access for consumers. In previous years, Starbucks introduced Wi-Fi in its stores to encourage customers to spend more time during visits. It also pushed the idea of ​​mobile wallets long before Apple Pay became ubiquitous. And it made mobile ordering the norm well before the Covid pandemic, when other restaurant chains took it up.

But a criticism leveled at many traditional businesses when entering the web3 market is that they approach it as a marketing stunt, not a real effort. Of course, Starbucks claims that’s not the case here – but only time will tell how serious the interest may be.

“We are optimistic about the future of these technologies that enable experiences that were not possible before,” Brewer asserts. The purpose is to be flexible and move with the customers as the web3 market changes, he explains. “It’s very important that we look at it in the long term,” he continues. “But given that we plug it into our industry-leading, massive rewards program – we’re committed,” he says.

The company says the web3 platform will open its waitlist (waitlist.starbucks.com) on September 12 and will launch later this year. It will remove the waiting list and open the platform more widely sometime next year.