Starbucks, I’m a fan and have openly admitted to it. Therefore, I’m quite happy to confess a genuine, albeit slightly guilty, pang of excitement when I discovered that Starbucks is launching not one, but two, of their very own iPhone applications .
The first app, myStarbucks, lets customers locate stores and bookmark favorite locations. They can search by opening hours and various amenities. The application also provides nutritional information for Starbucks drinks and food, along with a drink builder that calculates nutritional information based on what you’ve put together.
The second app, Starbucks Mobile Card, lets users check their card balance and transfer money onto it. The app also displays a scannable bar code, allowing it to be used to pay for the various Starbucks goodies you find by the counter, with the card . Sadly, this particular application is currently only being tested in 16 stores in Seattle and the Bay Area.
The applications, both free, stem from customer feedback on various social-networking sites, as well as their rather successful “My Starbucks Idea“, an online community the company launched last year.
These aren’t the only Starbucks applications available in the app store, but these are the two first official iPhone apps made available by the company.
It’s slightly baffling it’s taken so long for the company to launch an official application. After all, Apple and Starbucks currently work together to make in-store songs available through iTunes.
When will the applications be made available worldwide? Depending on customer feedback during the trial, the coffee company will then decide whether or not to extend it to other markets.
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