Could Starbucks Help Other Retailers Succeed With Mobile Payments?

Passionate customers are what makes Starbucks’ mobile payment app so popular, something that is not easily transferred to another company.

May 06, 2014

SEATTLE – Mobile Payments Today questioned earlier this week whether Starbucks should license its mobile application, and if so, the marketing lesson that should accompany such an initiative.

The article comes a week after Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz revealed that tech companies and major retailers have approached the coffee chain about helping them duplicate Starbucks’ success in the mobile space.

“[I]t might also want to give interested parties a marketing lesson or two about how to build a rabid, active consumer base,” Mobile Payments Today wrote about any such future licensing effort. “The company would not be the benchmark for mobile payments without them.”

Starbucks’ mobile success is a reflection of its passionate customers, and other retailers might consider establishing similar connections before looking for mobile payments success.

"It's kind of a bit of wishful thinking," James Wester, research director of global payments for IDC Financial Insights.  "What makes Starbucks successful in selling coffee might not necessarily lend itself to white-labeling a mobile application and getting into payments.”

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