Starbucks Becomes Poster Child for Mobile Payments

SEATTLE -- Starbucks Corp. is leading the way among all retailers regarding mobile payment transactions.

According to Mobile Commerce Daily, the retail giant is seeing nearly 4 million U.S. mobile payment transactions each week, up from 2 million at the end of 2012 and 3 million just one month ago. Mobile transactions now account for approximately 10 percent of all U.S. payments at Starbucks locations.

"Starbucks' success shows that payments can be done right and successfully if you understand your customers well, you are committed to making it a success and continue to evolve over time to get the experience optimized for users," Gene Signorini, vice president of mobile insights at Mobiquity, told the news source.

Although other retailers have found customer adoption of mobile payments to be tough sledding, a strong commitment to mobile payments has made Starbucks successful.

"Starbucks has a loyal customer base that visits repeatedly and frequently and therefore develops a personal relationship with the brand," Signorini said. "Mobile is inherently a very personal, tailored experience, just like ordering your own Starbucks latte to your tastes so the two things mesh well together."

Starbucks' mobile applications (apps) have also proven quite successful, the company reported during its recent 2013 fiscal second-quarter earnings results. It now has more than 10 million active customers who use the apps.

In addition, the retailer had 4.5 million active customers enrolled in its My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program at the end of its 2012 fiscal year, and expects to double that number to 9 million by end of its current fiscal year.