Starbucks Gets Ideas from Online Community of Buyers

Today, consumers can walk into a Starbucks to order a “skinny” beverage, receive digital rewards for using their Starbucks Card and enjoy the free Wi-Fi.

These offers, and hundreds more, have enhanced the Starbucks experience because of customer ideas shared on MyStarbucksIdea.com.

This month, the brand celebrates a five-year milestone of interaction on MyStarbucksIdea.com, an online community for people to share, vote, discuss and put into action ideas on how to enhance the Starbucks experience.

The site was founded to create an open dialogue and collaborative environment with consumers to share their thoughts and ideas and allow them to play a vital role in how they interact with Starbucks, both in and out of stores.

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Here are just a few ways consumers have enhanced the brand experience by sharing their ideas on the site:

• Splash sticks have kept clothes cleaner for the past five years (Idea #1)
• There are more than 3 million mobile payment transactions per week in Starbucks US stores – including quite a few happening in drive thru locations (Idea #202)
• Consumers helped introduce new flavors, including skinny beverages, Mocha Coconut Frappuccino Blended Beverages (Idea #144), Hazelnut Macchiato (Idea #275) and Starbucks VIA Pumpkin Spice Flavored Coffee (Idea #233)
• More than 5.8 million cake pop treats enjoyed each year, thanks to customers sharing ideas for smaller sized treats in Starbucks stores (Idea #128)

“For five years, our passionate customers and partners have been sharing their ideas with us on My Starbucks Idea, and we have listened and acted upon many amazing innovations that we have received from this online community,” said Alex Wheeler, vice president of global digital marketing for Starbucks.

According to the company, this is just a snapshot of the 150,000 consumer ideas submitted. You can visit www.mystarbucksidea.com to submit your own idea.