When it comes to mobile - Starbucks sets the bar. Their branded app (screenshots below) serves as a payment processor, loyalty program (although that's a separate sign-up), message center, eGifting and more. It also gives coffee connoisseurs the ability to locate the closest store and bookmark their favorite locations. In short, Starbucks has local and mobile covered. With its new integration with Twitter (Tweet-a-Coffee), Starbucks is now demonstrating a topnotch SoLoMo (social, local, mobile) experience for its customers.
This week, Starbucks announced a new way for customers to send gifts of Starbucks coffee through the Tweet-a-Coffee program, which is an extension of a similar offering available on Facebook. Customers in the U.S. can now sync their Starbucks account to their Twitter account and tweet to @tweetacoffee and the Twitter handle of the gift recipient, which will then send the recipient a $5 digital eGift. Customers can them redeem the $5 Starbucks Card e-gift at participating Starbucks stores in the U.S., either by printing out the e-gift, showing it directly on their mobile device, or by loading it to their Starbucks mobile app. (How's that for beating those costly credit card processing fees.)
Building upon Starbucks digital gifting and engagement offerings, Tweet-a-Coffee (still in beta form) will be an ongoing platform that will allow customers to engage with one another online to gift a Starbucks beverage.
"Starbucks is really breaking ground here," said Joel Lunenfeld, vice president of brand strategy at Twitter. "Shared experiences, such as a television show, a sporting event, or someone sharing a gift, are at the heart of the Twitter experience. It's also central to what it means to be a modern brand."
Here are screenshots of the Starbucks iPhone app: