Starbucks Could Lead The Charge

Yesterday, in a USA Today article, Starbucks announced their approach to offering “free” Wi-Fi to their customers. There are basically 3 things each customer must do for their “free” Wi-Fi.

Purchase a Starbucks card with a minimum balance of $5
Register their Starbucks card with Starbucks (give away your personal info)
Use your newly registered Starbucks card at least once a month (you’ll have to continually add money to your account – ensuring repeat business for Starbucks).

While I think Wi-Fi should be free to begin with I have to applaud Starbucks with their approach here. The benefit they’ll receive from having their customer base register their cards will be invaluable. This opens the door for Starbucks to learn so much more about their customers. They’ll be able to identify a customer’s specific demographic, purchase habits, & most importantly will have the ability to now directly market Starbucks products to that customer.

The USA Today article concluded with Starbucks making mention of how they eventually want to have Starbucks card data landing on a key fob, a cell phone, & even a travel mug. I about jumped out of my seat when I read this! This would mean we could all ditch those Starbucks cards, our credit cards, etc. when walking into a Starbucks. If I could simply walk into a Starbucks with my cell phone for example & pay for my morning cup of coffee without having to have anything else on me I’d be ecstatic. I’ve always got my cell phone on me – too often I’m the guy in line with the cell phone pinned to his ear talking (usually my morning conference call) as I wait my turn to order my caffeine fix.

If there is a U.S. retailer that can make Mobile Payments a reality I think Starbucks can do it. The demographic make-up of the average Starbucks customer will surely be the first group of people to purchase those mobile phones that have Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities. Putting NFC ready mobile phones in the hands of the customer is half the battle.