Why Did the Starbucks Coffee Material Cause Pickup Mix-Ups?

A cute bear delivery rack co-branded by Starbucks and Meituan reached consumers in batches and set off a string of mix-ups. Some buyers arrived at stores to collect it and found staff unaware the brand had released such an item; others assembled the rack only to learn the campaign had already ended, and some stores displayed it outside as shop material.

The rack is a coffee material made of four fiberboard pieces with a sensor-activated glowing bear on top, reserved free through Meituan after meeting gift-with-purchase conditions. Users who took part have shared photos online, while those who missed the window complained that posts appeared only after it closed, exposing a gap between campaign promotion and consumer reach.

The cute bear delivery rack jointly created by Starbucks and Meituan has recently been delivered to consumers one after another, but unexpectedly triggered a series of amusing incidents. Some people went to stores to pick up the package and the staff were completely confused, some only discovered after assembling it that the campaign had long ended, and some stores even mistook the delivery rack for store materials and placed it outside the door to greet customers. This merchandise, which can be reserved for free only after meeting Meituan's gift-with-purchase conditions, has won over countless fans with its sensor-activated glowing little bear and sturdy fiberboard material, but it also made netizens who missed out lament, "Big data, you're late." Users who successfully got one have begun to worry: if such a cute rack is placed at the door, will it be taken away? The various experiences surrounding this co-branded merchandise reflect the subtle gap between brand campaign promotion and consumer reach.

Recently, some netizens posted on social platforms the Starbucks delivery rack they had just received, and shared the confused reaction of store staff when they went to a physical store to pick up the package — the other party had no idea when their own brand had launched such a piece of merchandise.

It is understood that this cute bear delivery rack, a collaboration between Starbucks and Meituan, opened for reservations last month, and was only delivered by Meituan courier this month. After opening the package and assembling the four pieces of good-quality fiberboard according to the instructions, you get a fairly substantial delivery rack. Placing a sensor-activated glowing Starbucks bear on the top instantly maxes out the rack's cuteness.

This co-branded merchandise is both appealing and practical, making it highly attractive to many netizens. When netizens who had already gotten the delivery rack revealed that one only needed to meet Meituan platform's gift-with-purchase conditions to reserve it on their own, with no extra payment required, deal hunters immediately got excited and opened Meituan one after another, only to be disappointed to find that the campaign had long ended.

Netizens who missed out were full of questions: "Why do I always come across your posts about these things only after the campaign is over?" Some also said that when they went to physical stores, "the staff never mentioned this campaign at all." Those who missed out on this co-branded merchandise, which has both good looks and practicality, could only mock themselves with, "Big data, you're late."

Judging from the pickup experiences shared by netizens, most Starbucks staff were unaware of this gift-with-purchase campaign. Some staff mistakenly thought the Meituan package they received was store material, opened and assembled it, and directly placed it at the door. As a result, when netizens went to pick up their packages and entered the store, they saw their own Starbucks bear sitting on the delivery rack greeting customers.

Could it be that Starbucks did not promote this co-branded merchandise campaign well enough, leaving deal hunters able only to sigh over "expired freebies"?

Actually, this was not an oversight by Starbucks. Before the campaign began, Starbucks' official Weibo had already posted about it; as the campaign deadline approached, it also reminded Starbucks members by text message to participate. If you did not receive the relevant text message, perhaps your phone software was being overly dutiful in intercepting the information, rather than Starbucks failing to promote it.

However, netizens who successfully scored the freebie, while taking photos and sharing them, also developed new worries. Such a cute bear delivery rack — "won't it soon end up at someone else's door?" Some worried that "the rack will be stolen less than an hour after being placed at the door," while others said bluntly that a delivery rack "placed at the door will only be taken away by the cleaner and sold as cardboard," and that "within two days it was picked up by the cleaning lady and sold as scrap."

Many netizens who have had the experience of "things at the door being taken away" said they would not dare put this cute and practical delivery rack outside the door, and after weighing their options could only move it back inside, placing it beside the sofa as a side cabinet or coffee table. Fortunately, the delivery rack is made with solid materials and is not just a decorative item that looks good but is useless, so keeping it at home as a storage stand can also be considered making full use of it.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.