Starbucks Coffee

I think the virtual cup of coffee is a great idea. However, it may be challenging because how would it be determined what price coffee the recipient could buy with their virtual cup? I think a "virtual" gift card would be cool. The recipient could print it out and use it at their local Starbucks. This way they would know exactly how much they have. Plus, because it's a gift card the recipient could purchase numerous coffees as well as snacks and products instead of just one cup of coffee. Sounds exciting though.

- Catbaloo (former barista)

That would be so nice to finally send an online gift card of a coffee or tea to a friend or family member. Getting a surprise 0f this by email is such a nice gesture.

Will licensed stores honor the online cup of coffee? That is something to keep in mind when you take a look at it. As someone who does not have access to a corporate store (2 hour drive time from my house) I would hope the licensed stores would honor it.

I think this would be a great idea to launch!

GREAT IDEA!!!      I recently posted the following discussing in detail the very same idea.  Please read the post.  I have copied it here into my comment.

Printable E-Gift Certificates with Barcodes

Posted by acecowboy to Starbucks Card,6/3/2009 11:34 AM

I'm a professional schmoozer or salesman. I'm constantly doing little extra special things for my clients and for the colleagues I rely on every day to get things done for me.

Many times I have wanted to include an electronic gift certificate in an email when asking someone for a favor or thanking them for a nice order.

I wish Starbucks would offer this option.

Currently the only option offered is to order a prepaid card to be sent out to the recipient.

Waiting 4-5 business days for a gift card to be mailed to the person just doesn't work. timing is everything.

I can't see their being a problem with counterfeiting because each certificate would have a unique bar code that could only be used once or act like a regular card.

Ticket-Master uses this for most of their major events. You print your tickets at home and they scan them at the door.

Here's how I would like to see it work:

Ideally I would type an email to a client, save it, go online to Starbucks and buy the certificate, I would receive an email from Starbucks with a PDF document of the certificate which I would save to my desk top.

I would then attach this document to the email and send it to my client.

The recipient would receive my email, open the attachment, print it (the certificate) take it to Starbucks where the bar code would be scanned and they would buy their favorite Starbucks treat.

The remaining balance would still be attached to the bar code on the certificate or could be transferred to a plastic Starbucks card if the client had one or wanted to buy a new card with additional money on it.

Benefit to Starbucks:

1-if a balance remains on the certificate it may go unused because it is unlikely that a business person is going to carry around a 8.5"x11" sheet of paper folded up in their pocket for a week.

2-if it is made easy ans provides instant gratification you will get more impulse spending = more revenue for Starbucks.

3-if the client is printing their own certificates Starbucks increases revenue without investing in more stores or making and shipping Starbucks cards.

4-if this is a service in demand Starbucks builds stronger customer loyalty by giving us (the client) what we want.

If anyone at STARBUCKS thinks this is a good idea and decides to implement it, please send me an email so I know the service is available. I don't want any compensation for the idea. I just want to be able to use the service in the future.

Thank you,

Michael

I think it would be great to send a Starbucks drink to a friend online. Some of my friends live in different states and I can't just go out and buy a drink for them, so sending a drink coupon via email would be awesome!!  

This is an awesome idea.....online printable gift card for Starbucks! I would use it immensely.

How clever! I think it's  because it would be so convenient.

Love it-- could send employees a cup -- for an attaboy--( or attagirl)

I think it would be great if you could additionally integrate this into social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. That way I could click to send a friend a gift and when they redeemed the voucher, presumably the uid on the voucher could be traced back and my social network could tell me when my friend has redeemed the voucher.

Scenario:

Jon status:   Have been burning the midnight oil to get  this project delivered on time

Bill action: Send Jon a [Grande Americano, extra shot]

Bill & Jon's Feeds: Jon has just enjoyed a Grande Americano, extra shot from Bill

To manage this idea -- you may want look at how amazon handles gift cards---for this site--  say if I wanted to send "cups of coffee" I would have an account online with Starbucks with say 25 cups prepaid ( or as many as i wanted to buy)  for and as I wanted to send the cup -- I would e-mail the cup of java coupon from the Starbucks site to the recipient -- who would print it out - it would be bar coded with the correct account data and presto -- WA la -simple process- done right-and easy--too--hazzle free in my book

Papa

Great idea...

And hire acecowboy....

If the point of the virtual cup of coffee is to congratulate or to show affection, isn't convenience to the sender kind of low on the priority list?  This seems more like an electronic hindrance to actual social activity.  Whatever happened to sending letters?  Or calling people on the phone and actually talking to them?  Or taking them out for coffee in real life?

Many times I've wanted to send a little something to an out of town colleague.  This would be perfect!

I think that being able to send a friend a cup of coffee is an awesome idea and would surely brighten my day.  

Also I think rewarding frequent buyers through their starbucks cards is a great idea.   I think for every 10 purchases, drinks,  you should get one free.  

Can you let me know the status of this?  I think it's a fabulous idea and the company I work for wants to be able to implement this and "buy a coffee" for someone remotely since we can't take many of our clients for a coffee because of geography.

Funny, I'm on this website tonight because I wanted to email my brother a $25 Gift Card, by email.  I actually thought it already existed and I was going to place my order.  I was shocked to see that's it's still in the development stage.  Doesn't the I-Phone have an App for that, of course they do and every other Smart-Phone  too or  Print-Out a Coupon and take it to any Starbuck's in the World!  I hope it's coming soon!

Get on with it.  My friends and family are waiting.

Great idea!  I'd love to send a cup of coffee to my friends and family who live a good distance from me and I don't see too often.  A great way to stay in touch.

hmm.. it would be absolutely fenomenal if you could make this work internationally, too. Seems like the rest of the world is missing out on a lot of the things that Starbucks offers in the States..

e-Gift Social is already doing this on Face Book....go to FB and enter e-Gift Social in the search bar and check it out!  

We're going to be able to do this real soon with Google Wallet!  You can make your phone your wallet, send gift cards, redeem gift cards right from your cell phone, etc. Technology...amazing!