What Does the Starbucks Student Card Offer Americano Caf Goers?

Starbucks has launched a Star Student Card for university students in China, covering junior college, undergraduate, master's and doctoral students but excluding self-study exam candidates. It is free to open after identity verification. Cardholders who spend at least 30 yuan in one in-store purchase get a free tall Americano voucher 30 minutes later, valid for 3 hours.

The fine print narrows the value. The free refill voucher is issued only once per month, and two cups must be finished within the 3-hour window or it expires. Starbucks also has limited reach near campuses, with coverage of about 15.53 percent, while lower-priced chains such as Luckin, Cotti and Manner sit closer to most universities, so student retention is uncertain.

Starbucks recently launched a "Star Student Card" for domestic college students, which can be opened for free upon identity verification. Card-holding students who spend at least 30 yuan in a single in-store purchase can receive a free limited-time voucher for a tall Americano valid for 3 hours after 30 minutes, along with drink discounts. However, there are quite a few restrictions in the fine print: the free refill voucher is only issued once per month, and it must be used by drinking two cups within 3 hours. In addition, Starbucks' coverage around universities is only 15.53%, while affordable brands such as Luckin, Cotti, Lucky Cup, and Manner are more cost-effective, so whether this student card can truly retain student customers remains to be seen. Front Street Coffee is also continuing to follow this development.

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Recently, Starbucks launched a new activity called the "Star Student Card," targeting current students at domestic universities, covering junior college, undergraduate, and master's and doctoral students, but excluding self-study exam candidates. Students only need to complete identity verification to open this card for free.

In addition to being able to receive discount coupons for limited-edition drinks, cardholders who spend at least 30 yuan in a single in-store purchase will receive a free tall Americano voucher 30 minutes later, valid for 3 hours. In other words, when students study at Starbucks, as long as they spend 30 yuan, they can drink two cups of coffee.

Judging by Starbucks' pricing, selling a cup of coffee for 15 yuan is already close to a 50% discount, so the discount is indeed not small.

But after studying the rules carefully, one will find that this student card comes with quite a few additional restrictions. "Spend at least 30 yuan in a single in-store purchase and receive a free tall Americano voucher valid for 3 hours after 30 minutes" means that students who want to take advantage of this free coffee must finish two cups within 3 hours, otherwise the voucher becomes invalid. Moreover, the free refill voucher is issued only once per month, so for budget-conscious students, going to Starbucks to study may become something they do only once a month.

(Image taken from Starbucks' Xiaohongshu account)

In addition, most college students with limited financial resources hold the mindset of "save where you should save, spend where you should spend." Even if they cannot go without caffeine every day, they will repeatedly compare prices and choose the more cost-effective option. In their eyes, it is not that the discount on the Starbucks student card is not attractive enough, but that affordable coffees such as Luckin, Cotti, Lucky Cup, and Manner offer better value for money.

In addition, some students suggested that before promoting a student card, Starbucks should first look at its own store distribution. According to statistics from CBNData in March this year, Starbucks' coverage rate across national undergraduate universities and their surroundings is not high, at only 15.53%.

In other words, unless there happens to be a Starbucks store at or near the school, other people will find it difficult to use these limited discounts even if they get the student card for free.

(Image source from the WeChat public account CBNData)

The college student group is huge in scale and has long been regarded as a demographic with great consumer potential. They like new things and have a high acceptance of "internet-famous" products such as milk tea and coffee, and are easily won over, so they are increasingly valued by brands, and more and more chain coffee stores are opening in universities and their surroundings nationwide.

From the brands' perspective, once their products become part of students' daily lives and form an emotional connection with their fond campus memories, perhaps this can lead them, even after entering society, to still be influenced by their student years and thus become long-term users of the brand.

Starbucks, which launched the Star Student Card, probably has similar plans: packaging its greatest advantage, the third place, together with discounted drinks to attract college students, making itself into a study room in their campus life and occupying a corner of their memories.

Starbucks' calculations may be clever, but the first step is not easy to take. Its brand positioning has long deterred college students with limited financial means, and around universities there is an encirclement formed by affordable coffee brands. From this point of view, even if this student card with monthly limited benefits can bring people into the store, whether it can ultimately turn student customers into long-term customers as Starbucks wishes still needs time to verify.

Image source: Internet

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