The future of loyalty programs in an NFT world: Starbucks Odyssey

AI-generated image of a man and a cat in spacesuit brewing coffee

Starbucks Odyssey Beta experience finally launches on December 8th to a small group of waitlist members. Starbucks plans to integrate non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain infra into its Starbucks Rewards loyalty program.

This will allow customers and employees to earn and purchase NFTs that will unlock new experiences and benefits. The company is one of the first to integrate NFTs at scale with a loyalty program.

What do we know so far?

Image of Starbucks Odyssey UI
Credit to Polygon Technology
  • We can earn points by completing journey activities like games and challenges
  • Points add up to one of three levels. Higher the points, the higher level of benefits we will access with different perks to choose from e.g exclusive merch, and special events.
  • Stamps are unlocked by completing all activities in a journey (and getting bonus points). Plus, you’ll be able to purchase one-of-a-kind-limited Edition Stamps (rare NFTs) that will add even more bonus promotional points to your total points.
Starbucks Odyssey welcome screen UI
Welcome screen — credit to @jasminexu888

Sign-up flow is done with Nifty Gateway, it was a little painful and could been a better experience. We had hoped that this was better integrated and felt less disconnected

Our first impression of the experience so far is that onboarding is okay and the lack of the word ‘blockchain’ or ‘NFT’ seems to be the textbook strategy to onboard the masses as seen in the Reddit NFT collections study case.

Problem with gamification in loyalty programs

Many loyalty programs do not offer personalized rewards, challenges, and feedback based on each member’s preferences and goals.

All of this feels generic… and unengaging. 🤔

The games and challenges so far feel like a chore and will most likely not retain enough engagement unless rewards prove to be enough incentive for people to keep playing.

Image of Starbucks Odyssey games and challenges
Games and challenges in Starbucks Odyssey — credit to Starbucks

Starbucks was not tapping blockchain and NFT infra for fun and might herald massive widespread use of NFTs with it expecting to approach 45,000 stores by the end of 2025. We believe they are trying to connect to their customers in new ways, leveraging collectibles to tell stories the way NFT communities are doing right now.

The question remains on how might Starbucks Odyssey offer compelling rewards and incentives that motivate members to participate and stay active in the program.

This got us thinking… What other initiatives can Starbucks potentially tap into to leverage blockchain infrastructure? How might they take advantage of what NFT communities have built in the past couple of years?

In Web3, it’s all about storytelling, participation, community, or fun.

Introducing PBT, the Physical-Backed Token open source standard (EIP-5791) pushing forward decentralized authentication of physical goods on-chain without a centralized server developed by @ChiruLabs.

Further bridging the physical and digital worlds, below are the seamless minting experience of the Azuki hoodie.

How might Starbucks leverage PBT?

It’s no secret that big fan of Starbucks collects their re-useable cups especially thematic or seasonal ones, it retails between $20 and $30, and is almost always sold out on the Starbucks website.

Collections of Starbucks cups
Starbucks Cups — credit to Starbucks

Implementing PBT on limited-edition tumblers might have an untapped potential on the market.

Purchasing limited tumblers and mint one-of-a-kind-limited Edition Stamps (rare NFTs). A limited-edition certificate creates a sense of exclusivity and scarcity. Customers may feel more attached to a product that they know is not widely available.

Additionally, the release of a limited-edition item can generate buzz and excitement among customers, which can lead to increased loyalty.

Azuki collector dashboard
Azuki Collector Dashboard — credit to @thehejz

Azuki introduced Collector Dashboards to their holders, this elevated personalization to the next level by displaying PBTs, collectibles, and emblems they own on one cool and easily shareable page.

Starbucks can easily expand this to their physical merchandise, giving different achievements for collecting based on geography, season, festival, etc.

Emblems can be used to redeem various benefits and more importantly could create a sense of pride and ownership for customers and encourage them to share.

Burning or Staking NFTs (cough…collectibles), typically refers to the practice of permanently destroying a non-fungible token or locking it up for a certain period of time in order to prove ownership and enable value generation for its owner.

In the secondary market, this means fewer supplies are circulating and if demands are bigger, the value of the collectibles would hypothetically increase.

NFT communities have been making this mechanic fun by incorporating storytelling aspects, One of the mechanics behind Moonbirds is “Nesting”, which refers to “locking” your MoonBird in your wallet and accruing additional benefits the longer they are nested.

Moonbird NFT nesting mechanic
Moonbird Nesting — credit to Moonbird

Starbucks could do similar initiatives with narratives they want to push for example they are big on Coffee Sustainability, and customers can mint region-specific NFT stamps by buying certain products sourced from a specific region.

Lock them up for a period of time and over time will generate a ‘Sustainability Point’ to purchase a field trip to Costa Rica to discover what agronomists and farmers are doing to address the effects of climate change!

There are limitless ways of leveraging blockchain and NFT further in Starbucks Odyssey, It’s an exciting development for the company and for customers.

We’re watching this closely to see how Starbucks might satisfy its customers via a compelling narrative and take them on a journey. We hope it doesn’t stop at the simple buy coffee get points system.

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Categorized as UX