Starbucks loyalty club members will be able to read more articles from The New York Times on the coffeehouse chain’s mobile app, the company said Wednesday.
The partnership marks yet another way Starbucks Corp. is leveraging its My Starbucks Rewards program to provide benefits beyond the typical free drinks and discounts. With more than 10 million loyalty members, the Seattle-based chain has pledged to build a robust “digital ecosystem” that will connect the brand with its customers in new ways.
With the deal, Starbucks’ mobile app will feature top news of the day free to loyalty members at more than 7,000 company-owned locations in the U.S., starting in 2016. Those customers will also have an opportunity to earn Starbucks star rewards through paid digital and print subscriptions to the newspaper.
Starbucks units typically have the print version of The New York Times for sale, and many U.S. locations offer free access to 15 digital Times articles per day via the Starbucks Digital Network.
“We see a future in which the Starbucks retail experience seamlessly extends to the mobile devices our millions of customers carry with them every day,” Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
“Our relationship with The New York Times is the perfect example of bringing this vision to life. We have proudly sold millions of copies of the paper in Starbucks stores for more than a decade and are excited to bring this experience to the next level by enabling Starbucks’ loyal customers to take the best of The New York Times with them wherever they go, whenever they want it.”
In May, Starbucks announced a multi-year deal to link My Starbucks Rewards members with Spotify to stream music and influence in-store playlists.
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