How Starbucks Transforms Seasonal Sales Strategy

With a new microsite for its Happy Mondays events that allows users to add the special discounts to their mobile calendars, Starbucks is boosting springtime sales and assuring that fans won’t miss any of this month’s weekly specials.

The beverage juggernaut is inviting followers to join the My Starbucks Rewards programme to take advantage of the special bargains occurring every Monday afternoon as it advertises its weekly March sales events on social media. Customers may add the events to their mobile calendars once they arrive at the promotional microsite, indicating a fresh approach to customer interaction for Starbucks.

Programme

According to Mary Beth Keelty, chief marketing officer of PM Digital, “This tactic not only drives consumers to the store for these exclusive offers, but perhaps even more importantly, it draws more consumers to its app, which is ultimately where Starbucks has the opportunity to engage on a larger scale with both long-standing and new customers.” “There is an even larger opportunity to increase consumer loyalty and advocacy because interested customers must sign up for the Starbucks Rewards programme in order to receive the special deals.

“Since its programme now has over 11 million active members, making it one of the most successful in the country, a redesign with Happy Mondays and other alluring prizes is likely to attract more sign-ups and open up more opportunities for Starbucks to cultivate relationships.”

The transition to spring

Starbucks, which is well-known for its seasonal specials and drinks, is helping consumers adjust to the warmer weather by launching a series of monthly activities dubbed Happy Mondays. Members of My Starbucks Rewards can visit their neighbourhood location after 2 PM on any Monday in March to take advantage of a special deal.

Consumers received a 50% discount on any Frappucino blended beverage last Monday, and next week’s promotion will welcome them to pop in for an afternoon drink and receive a 50% discount on any food item.

Because each client will receive 3 bonus stars, Starbucks’ equivalent of rewards points, when they place an order and pay in advance through the company’s app on March 21.

Through its social media platforms, Starbucks has been heavily marketing Happy Mondays, with a particular emphasis on Twitter. Followers are urged to “Become a Monday person and join Starbucks Rewards to enjoy Happy Mondays each Monday in March from 2-close” in the coffee shop’s most recent Pinned tweet.

Happy Festival

Users can then visit the mobile-friendly Happy Mondays microsite at happymondays.starbucks.com by clicking on the link that is provided.

Starbucks customers can browse the weekly special offers there on their smartphones and click “Add to calendar” to make sure they don’t miss the discount.

Customers will have the opportunity to add the event to their Outlook, Google, Apple, or Yahoo accounts by clicking the button.

People who already have these calendar apps downloaded can quickly store the date on their mobile devices by tapping a few buttons. Their smartphones will notify them before the start of each event each week in this way.

The caveat is that in order to take part in Happy Mondays, customers must be My Starbucks Rewards members. The “Join Now” button is located in the top right corner if users are browsing the microsite but are not members.

Grow Customer Number

As a result, they expect Starbucks to see a rise in both memberships in its rewards programme and revenue. Starbucks is working to keep its brand at the top of consumers’ minds as they look for ways to say goodbye to winter and hello to the start of spring.

According to Joseph Anthony, founder and CEO of HERO Group, “It’s evident that the purpose of Happy Mondays is to provide an olive branch to consumers while they transition to this new rewards programme, which begins in April.” An “add to calendar” button is not particularly inventive on its own.

The inclusion of an events-adding button to sync with a user’s iPhone or Android calendar is a clever method to close the loop and keep the user experience contained to the mobile ecosystem, while this “members only” promotion is only available to customers using the Starbucks mobile app.

In contrast to prior campaigns, Starbucks has historically used a variety of campaign microsites, Tumblr pages, and social media marketing techniques to increase sales and awareness of its seasonal beverages.

By posting a love-themed music playlist with its Snapchat followers last month, Starbucks helped customers recover from their post-Day Valentine’s blues and demonstrated how the company kept its Spotify connection at the forefront of its mobile marketing initiatives (see story).

Social Media And Other Platform

The company also made a significant effort on social media last fall as part of a marketing blitz for the reintroduction of its Pumpkin Spice Latte. This included official profiles for the beverage on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. The company has previously focused on SMS for its seasonal promotions (see story).

With the inclusion of the smartphone event reminders, the Happy Mondays events are setting themselves apart from earlier strategies. Dedicated Starbucks customers will definitely value being reminded of approaching afternoon reductions on their cellphones, which will increase sales for the firm.

Soon, other food and beverage companies might start providing comparable features for their temporary promotions.

Starbucks must communicate consistently across all mobile platforms, as with any multichannel campaign, especially given that this programme is connected to Starbucks’ mobile app, according to Ms. Keelty of PM Digital. Customers must use their Starbucks mobile application to purchase in order to receive the rewards, so keeping the campaign top-of-mind via social media or even mobile email will help raise awareness.

Source: promotion strategy , promotional strategies