My Starbucks Rewards Membership Surpasses 6 Million

Surpassing 100 Subscribers Per Hour This Year
Linked to Untact Consumption Trends Like Siren Order

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Starbucks Coffee Korea announced on the 31st that the number of 'My Starbucks Rewards' members has surpassed 6 million.

'My Starbucks Rewards' is a loyalty program that offers various benefits to customers using Starbucks' prepaid Starbucks Card, which was first launched in September 2011.

The 6 million members represent an average of 80 new members joining every hour over 8 years and 6 months until March this year since the service launch, equivalent to 1.2 members per 10 people based on South Korea's population of approximately 50 million.

Recently, with the spread of the untact consumption trend, the number of new members per hour has exceeded 100 on average from January to March this year, accelerating the membership growth rate. Additionally, in 2019, the proportion of new members by age group showed that those aged 20 and under accounted for 40%, the highest share, followed by those in their 30s at 27%, and those in their 40s at 23%.

In fact, the number of My Starbucks Rewards members has been steadily increasing since surpassing 1 million in May 2014, just 33 months after launch. It took 20 months to reach 2 million members after the first million, 16 months to reach 3 million, 14 months to reach 4 million, and 11 months from 5 million to 6 million, showing that the time required for each additional million members is getting shorter.

This steady growth trend is analyzed to be due to the member-exclusive programs offered only to members, along with increasing interest in untact consumption trends through innovative IT services and mobile apps that Starbucks continuously introduces.

Starbucks launched the industry's first prepaid Starbucks Card in 2009 and expanded it to an application service in 2012. In 2014, Starbucks introduced the innovative untact service 'Siren Order' for the first time worldwide.

In 2018, Starbucks added a voice ordering feature to Siren Order, and in 2019, expanded the orderable distance from 2 km to 6 km, significantly enhancing customer convenience. The cumulative number of Siren Order transactions surpassed 100 million last year and currently accounts for about 22% of all orders.

Especially, based on data from January last year to March this year, the peak usage times for Siren Order during the day are the morning rush hour from 8 AM to 9 AM (about 39%) and lunchtime from 12 PM to 1 PM (about 24%). This trend reflects consumers leveraging the convenience of ordering and paying easily via the app to reduce waiting times during busy peak hours.

Furthermore, Starbucks continues to integrate various IT services to ensure the safety and convenience of drivers using drive-thru stores. Customers can order via a video order smart panel upon arrival at the store and shorten waiting times through automatic payment using My DT Pass, which automatically recognizes vehicle information, continuously strengthening digital innovation to enhance customer convenience.

My DT Pass, introduced worldwide for the first time by Starbucks in June 2018 and highly regarded for increasing satisfaction for both customers and partners, is also an exclusive program currently offered only to My Starbucks Rewards members. Currently, about 40% of all drive-thru vehicle orders are made through My DT Pass, and the number of My DT Pass service applicants in March this year increased by an average of 107% compared to the same period last year.

Jang Seok-hyun, head of the Data Marketing Team, said, “Starbucks has been able to develop further thanks to the interest of 6 million My Starbucks Rewards customers,” and added, “We will continue to strive to develop convenient and innovative services to enrich our customers’ precious daily lives.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.