Does Starbucks’ new free Wi-Fi offer really raise the loyalty bar?

Does Starbucks’ new free Wi-Fi offer really raise the loyalty bar?
Tags: CRM, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Loyalty Programs, Marketing, Retail - General, Technology
June 15, 2010

No one who loves Starbucks doesn’t love the fact that they’re now offering free Wi-Fi in its over 6500 locations, right? My question is: How much will this move truly move the Seattle-based needle when it comes to customer loyalty?

After all, one of the reasons Starbucks is suddenly going the free Wi-Fi route (instead of getting Wi-Fi through a loyalty card) is that they’re in a stiff coffee competition with other chains such as McDonald’s, which has been offering Starbucks-like lattes for some time and already has free Wi-Fi in its locations.

So, Starbucks is really just evening the playing field. In addition, they’re adding a proprietary content network called the Starbucks Digital Network, through a partnership with Yahoo. They say it’ll offer unique local content not available anywhere else — but users must log in with a unique identifier, so the company will be gathering new data — possibly a good omen for a new data-driven understanding of customers? Free Wi-Fi is essential, of course, for this new model to work.

Still, overall, this move mostly seems like a simple must-have on Starbucks’ part — after all, more and more people expect free Wi-Fi wherever they go and if the competition’s already offering it, they have to stay in the game.

To my mind, this doesn’t seem like it will be a true loyalty game-changer…but hey, I don’t really drink much coffee, so what do I know? Let me know what *you* think about Starbucks latest customer offering. Does it take loyalty from tall to grande?

Reader Comments

Brent Hutton

about 23 months ago

One of the reasons that Starbucks lost me a long time ago was the greed that the company put in your face with a $9.99 daily charge for the Internet...customers are creatures of habit-I was a customer and now I am in the habit...of going somewhere else.
Robert Jacobson

about 23 months ago

I found the T-Mobile arrangement awkward (at least it was T-Mobile when I signed up) -- and each time I used it, I was reminded of the need to put more money in the till. Eventually my resentment transferred to Starbucks and I ceased to do more when I visited than buy a daily coffee. Finally I discovered a local coffee shop where the ambience was less cool and more active, got a lot of work done there at my own large table, and decided, who needs the ultra-cooked Starbucks brand? That's the danger of maximizing profits: they may disappear entirely.
Ed Personius

about 23 months ago

This is the danger of becoming LARGE and successful: When you really do need to move and innovate, to stay ahead of competition, you can't or won't. Now they've been beaten to the punch (again). Their perceived value worked (or was tolerated?) in a booming economy. It doesn't in a major recession. The brand needs to get back to innovation and proving value. Free Wifi helps, but you're right, it is a necessity. Starbucks needs to create a value that others don't have. The deal with Yahoo for content had better be good, or it won't move the meter. They'll need more than a few LCDs with warmed-over video content. They need something epicly cool, like window video systems, holographics, and a better value on coffee.
Wes Dixon

about 23 months ago

I don't know about the rest of you...but it will bring me back...
Valerie Killifer

about 23 months ago

Starbucks should have made this move a long time ago at the very least. It missed a huge opportunity by not offering free Wi-Fi from the very beginning as that would have built a loyal following of customers who would have possibly stuck with the brand through its growth challenges. While it was leading the coffee trend, it could have been leading this trend as well and done for Starbucks what free Wi-Fi has done for Panera Bread.