March 24, 2008

Starbucks - Big Relaunch Plans

As a part of their brand and product relaunch, Starbucks is buying the company that makes the Clover coffee machine; a new brew method that we reported on here at SingleServeEspresso back in January. We also reported that Starbucks was testing the Clover in a few locations around the country, which must have been pretty successful, because they must have decided that the machine was so good, it was worth buying the company.

Starbucks also announced that they are building their customer loyalty program to include free flavor shots for their members, free soy milk in prepared coffee drinks and free refills on brewed coffee. PRetty cheap ways to say "Thank-you" to the loyalists, but the costs have to add up. In the end though, all you need to do is get people to come in a few more times a month, and you'll pay it out fast.

Starbucks also launched the crowdsourcing site MyStarbucksIdea where people can suggest ideas, and others can comment on or build on them.

Starbucks - "Pay Back Tips" - $100 Mil.

In other news, Starbucks was ordered to pay millions to baristas who were short changed when tips were distributed every week. It was Starbucks' policy to pool tips and pay the tips out on a weekly basis to all workers, from baristas to supervisors who worked that week. You got your share based on how many hours you worked, and it added up to about an extra $1 per hour; which can add up.... to about $100 Million. That's the amount of money a California Court wants Starbucks to pay back to baristas in tips that they lost out on.