Starbucks in overhaul of popular loyalty program

It’s not going to be so easy for the 11 million-plus active members of Starbuck Corp.’s loyalty program to earn freebies.



Starting in mid-April, the coffee giant is making a change in its “My Starbucks Rewards” loyalty program whereby members will earn points, or “stars,” based on the dollars spent on the purchase. Currently, customers earn a star for each transaction, regardless of how much they spent, and are entitled to a free item after earning 12 stars.



Starbucks is hoping the change will lead to higher store sales, and that it will also put an end to customers asking store associates to ring up items individually in order to collect more stars.



Under the new program, which Starbucks revealed Monday, loyalty members will earn two stars for every $1 spent and need 125 stars to get a free item, meaning a gold member will need to spend $62.50 to earn the 125 stars and get a free coffee.



“Because rewards members can earn more [stars], they will spend more and that will help with comparable store sales," said Starbucks chief strategy officer Matthew Ryan, according to The Street.