Once upon a time, Starbucks was a local coffee bean roaster housed near Seattle’s waterfront. Since those humble beginnings in 1971, however, it became the world’s largest coffeehouse company with 17,000 locations worldwide. In less than 40 years, Starbucks has turned a typical home activity — brewing coffee — to a favorite business and personal meeting place. How the company grew is as complicated as changing an American household tradition, and as simple as offering coupons to keep regular customers happy to share their coffeehouse experiences.
Not content to sit at the top, Starbucks has added, changed and removed products to maintain its strong market presence — and profits. Not only can you sip a latte while tapping into a store’s free wireless network, you can leave Starbucks with a coffee grinder, a pound of special coffee blends or a fat-free dessert. If you’re hungry for discounts on the products you buy, Starbucks leads the coffee industry in money-saving promotions and coupons.
In July, 2009, Starbucks overtook Coca-Cola to become the most popular brand name on social network Facebook, with 3.7 million “fans.” For touting the coffee company on Facebook, users were offered printed coupons for free pastry with any beverage purchase. Another promotion gave fans the chance to send friends a coupon for a pint of ice cream, one of its newer products.
Discounts are now as common as clipping cereal or shampoo coupons from the Sunday newspaper. When menu items are added, it’s likely Starbucks will provide coupons for use at local grocery stores. But it’s the Internet that provides the biggest source of coupons for the coffee retailer. To start your coupon search, head to the Starbucks home site. Through rewards programs and promotions, all kinds of coupons for coffee and store merchandise are easily obtained. Both code numbers and printable coupons allow you to try products ranging from free drinks to free shipping to seasonal percent-off deals. Throughout the year, Starbucks often offers free drinks simply to attract new customers, and thank regular shoppers.
Outside the official company site, Starbucks coupons are popular on most “freebies” sites, such as absurdlycool.com, dealseekingmom.com and simplybestcoupons.com. In some cases, users “share” their coupons; these are featured on sites like retailmenot.com, where over 50 coupons related to Starbucks were recently available. Blogs are also a source for finding links to coupons and promotions. Advertising and public relations information blogs, such as donnaspromotalk.com, can alert you to promotions before the general public races to grab “while quantities last” offers. Type “food and beverage promotion blogs” in any search engine, to narrow your search for coupon alerts. Newspapers also offer food-centered blogs, often providing links to Starbucks coupons.
Starbucks executives know that it’s no longer enough to provide the best products. Customers have to notice what they sell, meaning relying on one of the oldest ways of marketing — coupons. By making use of this simple tool, the Starbucks fairy tale continues to be a real-life success.