Starbucks just gave the world another reason to love them: Beginning in April, you'll be able to send and receive Starbucks gift cards through iMessage. Yes, that’s right. Everyone you know can text you the gift of coffee for your birthday. And we officially know what everyone in our contact list is going to get as well.
In January, Buzzfeed reported that one in six American adults are given a Starbucks gift card during the holidays, so we can only imagine how that number is going to grow once this new feature is rolled out. Now instead of texting your BFF a coffee cup emoji you can text her an actual peppermint latte. Count us in.
Once the voucher is in your message app, you can choose to either use it straight from that app, or import it into your Starbucks app for later use. The company seems to think they’ve perfected the system, as it’s already rolled out via WeChat in China. Mobile shopping is definitely part of Starbuck’s expanding strategies, so this extra step seems only appropriate for the company. Last spring, Bloomberg reported that “more than 21 percent of transactions at company-owned U.S. stores now come through the app. In February, about 7 million orders were placed through mobile devices in U.S. cafés.”
So, is it your mom’s birthday? Want to thank your work wife for help on a project? Just want to test the feature by texting cups of the Starbucks holiday drinks to yourself? (No judgment.) Calling all coffee stans: This feature is for you.
