After its free NFTs achieved significant value, the Polygon-based Starbucks Odyssey platform is offering its first paid collectible.

Starbucks NFT on the Polygon network.

Coffee giant Starbucks is making significant strides in Web3 with its Starbucks Odyssey rewards program on Polygon, which is currently open in beta to limited users.

And, after releasing some free reward NFTs to early users, it will launch its very first paid collectible.

Starbucks Odyssey will launch the limited-edition Siren Collection for beta users of the platform, offering up to 2,000 NFTs that will be sold for $100 each.

Each unique artwork is inspired by the brand’s iconic logo, a “super mermaid,” as the company once described it. The company, on the launch of the NFTs, said the following:

“As Starbucks has grown over the years, the Siren has been right there with us, adapting and evolving to reflect the brand and culture.” 

The 2,000 pieces will be based on five different “expressions” of Siren that follow its “journey from local Seattle celebrity to revered global icon.”

Each user can purchase up to two premium NFT stamps and each comes with 1,500 bonus points that can be used to “level up” a user’s Odyssey account to earn future rewards.

Starbucks launched Odyssey’s closed beta in December, with a representative telling Decrypt soon after that the company had seen unprecedented interest from users wishing to join what was heralded as a next-generation evolution of the existing Starbucks Rewards program.

Since then, Starbucks has given away four free Polygon-based NFTs to users for completing certain in-app challenges. NFTs were rewarded for doing things like completing trivia challenges about the company or ordering Starbucks food and drinks or gift certificates.

Starbucks previous initiative regarding NFT.

Starbucks previously announced in December its intention to offer NFT rewards to its customers via Polygon, Ethereum’s scalability network. NFTs unlocked access to merchandise and events.

The initiative was touted as an extension of the Starbucks Rewards program and allowed customers to earn NFT “stamp travel” by completing challenges and playing interactive games through the coffee chain’s app.

Meanwhile, limited edition NFT stamps were sold by the company and purchased with credit cards. Specifically, the cryptocurrency was not required to “claim an ownership stake in their loyalty to Starbucks,” as the company describes it.

A Starbucks Odyssey Web app then unveiled a secondary marketplace to allow owners of stamps to buy and sell them at their leisure. There were incentives for users to collect these stamps.

NFTs raised a user’s level in the Odyssey app and led to potential rewards. From virtual beverage mixing classes to exclusive merchandise, access to private events, or a trip to Starbucks Costa Rican Coffee Farm.

A portion of the proceeds from NFT sales will support undisclosed causes, the company said. In a December tweet, NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway said it would fuel the Starbucks Odyssey platform.

The marketplace, best known for NFT collections by artists such as Beeple and musician The Weeknd, recently launched a publishers’ initiative that allows brands and creators to develop their own NFT drops using Nifty Gateway technology.

More NFT-related news: Binance and Polygon’s network support.

Binance NFT, the dedicated Non-Fungible Token session of the crypto exchange Binance, announced that it has included the Polygon network among the blockchains supported by the marketplace.

The announcement explains that this move expands the NFT ecosystem within the Binance community. With the new integration, it will be possible to exchange NFTs on various blockchains such as Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Polygon using the Binance account.

The integration does not open the door to all NFT collections and the marketplace will remain quite selective for the time being. On the website it can be read:

“Currently, only some NFT ERC-721 collections from the Polygon network are available on the Binance NFT marketplace. Binance NFT will integrate other NFT collections on a regular basis”.

In addition, on January 19, Binance NFT announced new rules for collections: when the value does not reach $1,000 these will be deleted. Limitations will also be placed on the number of NFTs each collection can accommodate.

However, quotes will be revised periodically to include or exclude collections depending on performance. In any case, Binance is not lagging behind the artificial intelligence that has swept Web3 either.

On March 2, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced that its AI-powered NFT generator, “Bicasso“, was launched and minted 10,000 NFTs in just two and a half hours.

The famous coffeehouse chain, Starbucks, has announced its non-fungible token (NFT) program launched on Polygon‘s blockchain and titled Starbucks Odyssey.

The goal is to offer added value to existing Starbucks Rewards Members loyalty card members, who will now be able to buy and earn NFTs for new activities organized in the metaverse.

To begin with, the program will be open only to US citizens, both for customers and employees of the company. This is certainly one of the first companies to integrate NFTs into a large-scale loyalty program and thus being able to create a large community to engage.

To start being part of the program, a whitelist of sorts is open as of today, 12 September for customers and partners. NFTs will be made available by the end of 2022. It is not yet known when this initiative will also be opened to Europe and the rest of the world, where Starbucks is present.

Starbucks as a kind of metaverse 

Brady Brewer, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Starbucks, explained that the coffee shops they operate are like places suspended between two worlds, a kind of metaverse of reality, wanting to draw a parallel.

“Starbucks has always served as the Third Place, a place between home and work where you feel the warmth of connection over coffee, community and belonging. The Starbucks Odyssey experience will extend the Third Place connection to the digital world. For the first time we are connecting our Starbucks Rewards loyalty program members not just to Starbucks, but to each other,”

he in fact stated.

How the Reward Odyssey program for NFTs works

As mentioned, the NFT-related program, Starbucks Odyssey, is an extension of the regular Starbucks Rewards, so customers will be able to log in using the same credentials. 

By accessing the program, there will be a series of activities such as interactive games or fun challenges to deepen their knowledge of coffee and Starbucks. Members will be rewarded for completing these virtual trips with a “travel stamp” to collect in the form of NFTs.

Members can also purchase NFTs on a marketplace that will be integrated on the Starbucks Odyssey website and can be paid for by credit card, thus not needing to own cryptocurrencies.

“Leveraging Web3 technology will allow our members to access experiences and ownership that was not possible before. Starbucks Odyssey will transcend the foundational benefits that our Starbucks Rewards members have come to love, and unlock digital, physical and experiential benefits that are uniquely Starbucks,” continued Brewer. “By integrating into the Starbucks Rewards ecosystem and grounding the experience in coffee, connection and community, we are entering the Web3 space differently than any other brand, while deepening our members’ connection to Starbucks. Our vision is to create a place where our digital community can come together over coffee, engage in immersive experiences, and celebrate the heritage and future of Starbucks,” 

Brewer continued.

What is the purpose of Starbucks NFTs

Each NFT will have a different rarity: as they are collected, the points of members increase, unlocking access to unique benefits and experiences never before offered. 

NFTs will give access to unique products and artist collaborations, invitations to exclusive events at Starbucks Reserve Roasteries, or even trips to the Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia coffee farm in Costa Rica.

Each NFT will represent art created by Starbucks artists and partners.

Charity and sustainability: why Polygon

A portion of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to support causes important to Starbucks partners and Starbucks Rewards members.

In addition, the company explains in the press release that it chose to use Polygon because it is based on Proof of Stake and not Proof of Work, which consumes more energy instead. 

“Building Starbucks Odyssey using technology that aligns with Starbucks sustainability aspirations and commitments is a top priority. Starbucks is committed to reducing its carbon, water and waste footprints and is taking a thoughtful and thorough approach as the company works towards the launch later this year,” 

Starbucks explains.

NFTs as loyalty vouchers: not only Starbucks

As explained, Starbucks is one of the first companies to use non-fungible tokens for its large-scale loyalty program, but it is actually not the only company to do so.

In 2021, McDonald’s had also launched its own collection of NFTs by giving them away to its customers in a giveaway and specifically in the States to celebrate McRib’s 40th anniversary, although in this case it was a momentary promotion and not long-lasting

Global coffee shop franchise giant Starbucks is looking to launch a new Web3 rewards program to attract and retain customers, details of which will be announced next month.

Starbucks enters the NFT world

At the beginning of the year, the company hinted that it would enter the NFT world within the year, without specifying well the details of the program, which is expected to help build customer loyalty.

So @Starbucks wants to come into web3 well I just hit every popular drink and Starbucksmenu.eth pic.twitter.com/1c2wRbl02U

— Jay (@BitBoyJay) August 4, 2022

During the company’s third quarter data presentation, CEO Howard Schultz had said: 

“This new digital Web 3-enabled initiative will allow us to build on the current Starbucks Rewards engagement model with its powerful spend-to-earn Stars approach while also introducing new methods of emotionally engaging customers”.

The CEO went on to explain that this new rewards program will cover collectible NFTs to “integrate our digital Starbucks Rewards ecosystem with Starbucks-branded digital collectibles as both a reward and a community building element”.

The official unveiling will take place during the investor day, scheduled for 13 September.

The approach chosen by Starbucks seems different than many other companies that are already experimenting with NFTs. It is not a matter of creating new collections to sell and thus as a new way of expanding its business from a commercial point of view, precisely by exploiting NFTs, but rather they want to use Web3 as a form of rewards to increase customer loyalty.

The company brought in Adam Brotman, the architect of its Mobile Order & Pay system and Starbucks app, to help serve as a special consultant for the project. Mobile Order & Pay was one of the world’s digital payment projects before Apple Pay became as widespread as it is today.

The company’s quarterly results exceeded analysts’ estimates, with a 9% quarter-on-quarter increase in global revenue to a record $8.2 billion. Schultz then also said that the launch of the new Web3-based rewards program is part of efforts to attract and retain Starbucks’ younger customer base.

“We don’t want to be in a business where our customer base is aging and we have a less relevant situation with younger people,” he said, adding that the company has “never been, in our history, more relevant than we are today to Gen Z”.

Currently, the company’s rewards program involves the ability to earn stars for every order that is placed in the chain’s stores or via the web, which can then be redeemed for products, such as free drinks. It appears that new NFTs will now be incorporated into part of this loyalty program.