Starbucks begins offering its $2 afternoon drink deal in all markets

Starbucks says it will now offer its morning customers any iced grande beverage for $2 after 2 p.m. The promotion was previously only offered in Seattle, Chicago and Miami. "I think we've kind of hit the nail on the head," says Brad Stevens, vice president of customer relationship management. "It's easy for baristas to implement and it's easy for customers to understand." (Read the Associated Press story)

Comments

[bucked]

A few clarifications:
We've been doing this in seattle for about a month now.
1)Yes licensed stores are doing the promotion as well, with the exception of Barnes&Noble Cafes. They just use their Safeway/target etc. receipts and I've seen them with stickers that say the same thing as the stamps.

2)Yes you can go to any Starbucks with your "treat receipt" on the same day. It doesn't have to be the store you went to in the morning.

3)Partners your stamps will run out of ink after about a week. We simply stopped stamping them. The same information is already on the bottom of the receipt. The stamp is really just to create a more visible/legible communication system.

4)After about a week all of our customers knew about the promotion so we turned off the auto-print and just asked each one if they wanted their "treat receipt" for the afternoon and hit print when they say yes. Very simple! The spiel really happens on the first few days so it gets easier. trust me.

5)@Melody. No you cannot combine any other discount/offers with the treat receipt. sorry. this goes for partner discounts as well. No 30% off the 2.19.

6)Our evening rush has gotten much bigger. but we are used to it now and it's no big deal. just have to set yourselves up with preps and you're good to go.

7)Remember this only lasts until SEPTEMBER 2nd. No $2 vivannos forever. We'll see what happens! Have fun!

[chloe]

thanks, bucked! that really helps to clarify things a lot. we got used to not breezing through receipt paper when they changed the POS software - it was awesome! so i'm glad to know eventually we can get back to that. :)

[Michael Perkins]

Melody --

You can't combine any other discounts with the $2 offer. Sorry.

[former manager]

Nerfebarista:

The pricing on americanos *was* absolutely consistent many years ago: A tall + add shot = grande; grande + add shot = venti. You'll forgive me for being upset that my quad grande americano, which costs Starbucks less to make than a venti (due to the cup cost), costs me *more* than a venti when rung as a grande + add shot.

AliCat:

A store *does* earn labor in ALS for drinks as well as transactions. Virtually everything rung through the POS has some amount of time associated with it: time to ring the transaction; time to pour a drip coffee, make a latte, bag a pastry, etc. (Even the time a store earns for lobby slides is calculated as a specific number of seconds per transaction.) All of this time added together is what constitutes flowed (read: customer-driven) workload. Biggest labor driver is transaction count; second is blended beverages (I would guess Vivannos also generate significant labor); third is retail coffee (e.g. whole bean, pods), except during holiday when retail items (cups, giftpacks, etc.) get a boost in labor earned and take over third spot. Hope that helps!

[omg]

the $2 beverage offer seems to be picking up biz in my store and i am alright with that!

[fiteensplendra]

RE: Strawberry water--The stores in our district have been told to start charging any water+syrup like this as a corresponding size juice. The kids have been disappointed and often ordered something else, but no one's argued.

[vonnie]

I agree with catpony: This promotion is nothing to the customer in the form of perks or loyalty rewards. Make your purchase more product to get a discount? I also think the strict limits to every promo is a big turn off, why not any grande drink of choice, some of us perfer hot drinks in the evening,why not include mocha as one free pump with your starbucks cards? Like Rosanna Danna say's " Its always something" I am a loyal daily customer, I have yet to be wowed, Can we say strings attached.

[Melody]

Thank you Michael Perkins & Bucked for clearing up my confusion. :)

[starbuckscustomer]

I saw this on my receipt the other day. It said come in after 2PM with the receipt and get a $2 + tax iced grande drink.
Does this include frappucinos?

[barrister barista]

Yes. The promotion includeds any grande cold drink. Frappucinos, vivannos, iced drinks, and the like.

[SBUX-NO BIG DEAL]

you know what we do in our office......anyone who goes to Starbucks in the morning puts their receipt in this fish bowl, it is there for anyone to take it back in the afternoon. I very rarely go to SBUX, but now I know why you are failing. I used my co-workers receipt yesterday, ordered a grande latte and got any eye roll from the barista. Drink was so packed with ice I think it lasted about 3 gulps. Not worth 2 bucks if you ask me. I don't understand why SBUX allows this behavior and quality. Just another piece a proof you are one step up from MickeyD's.

[Grace Lopez]

Does anyone know if Starbucks is going to run their $2 cup ad in the Chicago Tribune again? They ran it last week but I don't believe they've run it this week.

Thank you!

[starbuckscustomer]

off topic but I'd like to see Starbucks offer coffee water.

Let me explain.

After finishing my cup of iced brewed coffee or doubleshot on ice, I am set my cup down on the cup holder in the car. After a while, the ice melted and I picked the cup up to drink. What I tasted was a refreshing cup of iced water with a hint of coffee flavor. In addition to bottled water, I'd like to see Starbucks sell iced water with a hint of coffee flavor. This would be served in a tall, grande, and venti cup on ice and not in a water bottle.
This would be for people something refreshing but without caffeine and high calories. It can be a healthier alternative and cheap for Starbucks to make. I'd pay between $1.00 to $1.50 for it.

A way to make this would be to dilute a very tiny amount of brewed coffee or espresso in a large amount of cold water.
Then scoop ice into a Starbucks cup and dispense the coffee water into a cup.

[Ryan]

The real problem with food in general is that many of current generation dont know what real food tastes like. The fast food generation grew up on McDonald's, Burger King etc. Starbucks is just another fast food junk outet. Anyone who has tried a Cappuccino or just a good cup of coffee in any of Italian coffees in New York City will know the difference. Starbucks is waste of money. (actually the Greenwich Village caffes are less expensive than Starbucks.)

[Redd]

No promotion is going to make everyone happy, obiviously, but this is geared towards the customers who do come in at least twice a day or the ones who WOULD but don't want to spend that much money. I've only worked one day with it, but most people seemed pleased.

And about coffee water - please tell me you aren't serious. Could you imagine the comments here on this blog if that actually happened??? Lord help us...

[bucked]

One last thought:
Our customers are super happy about this. They're saying "Finally a nice break from Starbucks." We're constantly apologizing about discontinued items, apologizing about prices and other things we can't control in the stores. This is the first time in a long time I've seen customers light up about a significant promotion. And we're not even giving them something for free. We're saying come back and spend more money and they and really loving that. WOW! Not sure how this will factor into bottom line performance but it will definitely add to each stores top line and, something a little harder to quantify but priceless, it is generating good will between the customers and our company. More things like this please Howard! YAY

[waltie]

Does anybody else remember when Starbucks used to let a current promotion end before starting up a new one? These days, I sometimes forget which item is most important to upsell, and sometimes it actually will change from week to week, or even day to day.

At the very least, promotions used to be communicated to partners via emails and alerts on the portal well in advance so our stores could prepare. That doesn't happen anymore. It would've been nice to have some more advanced notice on this new promotion so we could've, you know, scheduled another person in the afternoons in anticipation of increased business.

[Susan]

To be blunt, I do not think most people should have the time to return to a store just for a drink. There is a big difference between Starbucks and many independent coffeehouses. The latter is more like a community hang-out and thus would make more sense to see people come and go all day long. Starbucks is not structured like that. They are in the business to to get them in and get them out ASAP. So they are making their money based on volume. However due to high dairy costs offering a $2 bargain drink later in the day is bad for the bottom line. The margins are too tight to allow as somebody mentioned earlier more staff. I personally am not in favor of promotions but instead I think offering a punch card based on frequency is the way to go. People will for at least a period of time line up for any sort of bargain and so I am not at all surprised that customers are happy to see this price reduction.

[erstwhile]

You guys don't realize this is to get people in the habit of coming back in the afternoon? You know, when the promotion is over.

A lot of people drink hot coffee in the morning, but don't even think about getting a cold coffee product in the afternoon.

So even if only 1 out of 10 people keep coming back for the full-priced beverage after September 2, that's still growing business in a slower period of the day, which is ultimately the goal here.

[Ellen]

erstwhile, I don't think they realize that. That's exactly the point. If you can change people's habits so that they stop at SB twice a day, once for the morning cup of coffee or Vivanno, and then once in the afternoon, you're golden. SB is incentivizing them to do so and make it a habit. It's a smart idea.

[Thai coffee lover]

It says All markets, but I guess that doesn't apply to us here in Thailand.

no- what you do not realize ellen and erstwhile is that the whole world does not revolve around the bucks. Me, a loyal customer of over 10 years has never come back in the afternoon, even if the coffee was free. I am a drip drinker and have no desire to get a cold drink in the afternoon. WE DO GET IT. Juts some of don't want it or need it. You are in the coffee business not the ESP business. Stop trying to figure out everything your customers "need" for everything in their lives and just try and be focused on customer service. That IS your job. We are pretty smart people, we know what SBUX is trying to do so stop trying to educate us.

[mapunx]

why so much hostility? we're just trying to sell some drinks in the afternoon. don't want your treat reciept? we have 5 trashcans in our lobby. yesterday we had 30 people redeem their treat reciept. that's about 8% of our usual customer count. and most people who i talked to this morning were super happy to get the reciept. it added about 4 seconds to transaction, but it adds 8% to our sales.

[Vivanno Lover]

I think its great, planning on stopping on the way home for vivanno number 2!

[COSBarista]

It's working well at my store. From 3:15 to 10PM today, I'd guess we took upwards of 50 "$2-Treat" (as the customers are calling them) receipts.

Pretty quick in terms of POS entry, although I found out the hard way that you need to isolate the $2 drink in the order (ie if customer orders 3x iced grande CM, do QTYx2 CM, then add another one, otherwise it will apply the discount to all three). Voids galore today.

[cathy]

So lets see; they try and get you back twice in a day to buy another coffee, granted it's $2.00 but just when you get used to 2 coffees a day they will pull the plug on that promo. I don't have the mind of a CEO or an MBA but why would they not just reward loyalty? I go there almost every dasy so why not give me an occassional free coffee? This new promo is simply designed to help them-not the consumer.

[angie]

"I don't have the mind of a CEO or an MBA but why would they not just reward loyalty? I go there almost every dasy so why not give me an occassional free coffee"

EXACTLY. Why not reward loyalty. I would love to have a free drink of my choice every once in awhile. It would make me feel like I am getting a TREAT. a punch card or something.

I get my venti iced coffee at about 11:00. I don't get or need another in the afternoon.

you know, most would be thrilled at thought of building business thru increased volume....HOWEVER, when you have no staff to meet the increased volume this is a nightmare!!

(needed 128hrs coverage this week, 188 next week - I am working open/close splits 7days straight! Hows about a little help instead of adding to the burden Howie!)

[Cali ASM]

Posted by: | August 12, 2008 at 05:43 PM

Please tell me you're joking?

What type of store do you work in?

What are your hours of operation? days open during the week?

How can that be 128-188 hrs of coverage!!! working 7 days a week!!!

In California that would be some major overtime pay right there.

Please explain further.

[Paul]

What a great promotion...except you can't get it when you need it! I went yesterday and wasn't given my receipt, although I have a whole walletful of them from last week. Of course, yesterday was the day I actually wanted to use mine. What's up with that?

[annonymous barrista]

I would just love to put one of these genius marketing people behind the counter for a week...I'm literally going home each day with a sore throat after a busy morning shift. Some more clearly posted signs would help...So here;s my typical day...Customer:.."I'd like a non-fat de-caf mocha,extra hot..200 degrees..2 splenda latte with no foam 2 blueberry muffins aaannnd" (I interrupt.."what size?,would you like whipped cream on that? okay..."Customer:Oh and a small coffee, oh no I meant a short" Me:would you like room for cream?What???(LOUDER)Would you like room for cream?..you know milk???yes..okay...
Can I have a name for the drink???What?..I couldn't hear you over the blender..That will be $$$," customer hands me credit card..i swipe "oh and here's a treat receipt and a customer survey..." customer obviously annoyed.."i don't want my receipt".."Okay...next." Next is the huffy regular who just wants a cup of coffee.Sigh...

[tspoppy]

The $2 grande cold drink sounds simple in theory, and I couldn't be happier for those of you that have exceptionally brilliant customers with varied tastes in beverages and flexible schedules that allow for multiple SBUX trips in a day.

Unfortunately, I fall into the category where 90% of my clientele (I always work opening shifts) have been getting the same drinks since I started over two years ago. A seemingly simple coupon offer turns out responses such as, "I can only use this today?"; "You know I only get this drink. Why would you offer me this?"; "I only come in at this time! What use is this?"; "I don't even want this."; "Wow. This seems kind of desperate." And the list goes on.

Keep in mind, the first few days we implemented this $2 deal, A) we didn't have the stamps yet so we were instructed to HANDWRITE some notion of this offering on the bottom of every mandatory receipt because B) the system wasn't yet printing this deal on the ticket.

Someone mentioned "line crippling" earlier, and I couldn't agree more. It's embarrassing. Every customer behind the one I'm engaging is hearing me repeat this same offer, and they loathe me by the time they're ready to order; some are already shutting me down before I can get to the sales pitch. I miss the unique, friendly encounters...because let's face it, there are only so many simple ways to say, "Bring this in after 2 PM and get any grande cold drink for $2."

[David]

Any chance they'll extend this promotion or make it permanent?

[David]

I'm not sure why the animosity about filching more money -- if you don't want to go back for a second coffee, don't go back for a second coffee. Its a great promotion for those that want an afternoon or evening coffee.

My only regret...I wish it was $ 2 for any grande drink, hot OR cold.