Starbucks released their mobile app over 15 years ago, and in their January 2026 investor announcement, they reported 35.5 million rewards members active within the previous 90 days. Clearly the app is performing very well and is driving customers to make regular repeat purchases. This blog post is going to go over how it is that Starbucks’ is able to encourage customer loyalty and these repeat purchases using relevant mobile marketing theory such as a mobile marketing mix, and RACE’s convert and engage stages.
Mobile Product and Place
Tong, Luo and Xu’s ‘Personalized mobile marketing strategies,’ published in the journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (2020), can help explain exactly how Starbucks is making it easier for customers to make repeat purchases through the Starbucks app. Essentially, the app serves as both a mobile product and a mobile place, allowing customers to reorder saved custom drinks through the app, making it more convenient to order, while the app also allows customers to order before they even arrive at a physical Starbucks. This process aligns with the convert stage of the Dave Chaffey’s RACE marketing model published on DaveChaeffey.com in September 2023, as the app reduces the purchasing effort for customers as the process is seamless and immediate.
Personalised Mobile Promotion
The Starbucks app does not create this level customer loyalty and repeat purchases just by making the purchasing process more convenient, instead it offers customers personalised mobile promotions which provide customers reasons to return. Starbucks’ rewards terms state that offers may reflect customers past purchasing behaviors and preferences, basically, these offers are personalised to each type of customer, this matters because offering more deals that are relevant to each customer means makes them more appealing which encourages the customer to make another purchase.
Rewards and Customer Engagement
The app includes a rewards loyalty program with 3 membership levels, these being Green, Gold, and Reserve. According to an article posted in Starbucks’ news page on March 10th, 2026 titled “Reimagined Starbucks Rewards loyalty program launches with new member benefits,” these membership levels each provide customers with personalized benefits and greater earning power. By using the app, customers can see visible progress towards the next membership tier after purchases, the progression provides customers an incentive to continue using the app as they seek the benefits that come with higher membership levels. This process connects back to the RACE framework as it aligns with the engage stage in how it maintains loyalty and repeat behaviors by providing value and more incentives for customers.
Limitations of this type of Customer Loyalty
Without a doubt, customers are frequently making repeat purchases through the Starbucks app, but customers returning for convenience or loyalty rewards does not mean that they feel attached to Starbucks as a brand, therefore the app may not be creating any lasting emotional loyalty. Because of the lack of emotional loyalty, if Starbucks were to remove or lessen the benefits members receive, it is possible that a significant amount of users would not return.
Ai Declaration
On 2 October 2026, I used OpenAI’s ChatGPT to support background research using the prompt: “Look for relevant sources related to the topic: “How the starbucks mobile app encourages loyalty and repeat purchases.” “
On 3 October 2026, I used OpenAI’s ChatGPT to support planning using the prompt: “Provide an outline for my blog post using my information provided in my references, focusing on the mobile marketing mix and the RACE framework.”
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