Starbucks revealed intentions to join the Web3 space with a line of NFTs during Tuesday evening’s Q2 2022 earnings call. The NFT component is integral to Starbucks’ new branding as a “third place,” which the company characterises as a “warm and welcoming place” where people can meet and build community.
Non-fungible tokens, abbreviated as NFTs, are tokens created on a blockchain to serve as evidence of ownership. These are, like every other token, speculative assets. These tokens often connect to a piece of media – digital art, a photograph, or anything else – and serve as a digital receipt for the transaction. It’s worth noting that the asset held is the NFT itself, the token, not the media to which it’s attached.
Regarding Starbucks’ aim to develop a series of NFT collections, the company states that many individuals see NFTs as a new kind of ownership for digital art, often exchanged on a very speculative basis. While that was true in the sector’s early days, Starbucks was captivated by how NFTs enable individuals to possess a programmable, brandable digital asset that serves as an access ticket.
NFTs have many potentials to enhance the shared-ownership model of loyalty, community development, storytelling, and consumer engagement. The process also generates accretive revenue that benefits stakeholders and establishes a new sort of digital ecosystem to complement Starbucks’ existing digital platform offering.
The acquisition of a series of Starbucks’ NFT collections is expected to serve as an entry point into the community and provides access to exclusive experiences and perks. The themes of these collections will be inspired by artistic expressions, both heirloom and new, and world-class partnerships with other innovators and like-minded businesses.
NFT collections will come with unique experiences and perks. Image: Starbucks
Starbucks’ approach to blockchain technology is likely to be multi-chain or chain agnostic in the long run. The brand will start with collections backed by blockchains and infrastructure consistent with its multi-decade commitment to sustainability.
Starbucks intends to adopt a phased approach to experiment, learn, collaborate and move forward. The NFT collections, membership, and community will come with unique experiences and advantages later this year.
While Starbucks’ NFT idea is still in its infancy, one thing is sure: those NFT benefits will almost certainly exclude union benefits.