The mobile payment for coffee program was launched by Starbucks back in January, and since its inception, Starbucks has processed 26 million mobile transactions, making it one of the most popular mobile payment apps on the market. According to the Starbucks press release, not only are their customers open to using mobile devices to consume Starbucks’ goods, but consumers are “reloading” their Starbucks Cards apps after they are exhausted, to the tune of $110.5 million during 2011.

There’s even data for the most popular cities in relation to the Starbucks Card app use, and the findings should come as no surprise, considering the top five cities are New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and San Jose.

Let’s see, we have two of the most populated cities in the world, the city where Starbucks was born, and two of the tech industry homebases. Nope. No surprises here. Concerning the success of their mobile payment application, Starbucks is understandably excited:

“2011 was a year of great mobile exploration and expansion for Starbucks and an opportunity to give our customers a new way to connect with Starbucks through a variety of mobile experiences,” said Adam Brotman, svp and gm Starbucks Digital Ventures. “The customer response to our mobile apps has been phenomenal. Not only are they using their phone as a wallet, but as a connection point to Starbucks as they manage their Starbucks Card accounts, send eGifts and get into the holiday spirit with the Starbucks Cup Magic app.”

Due to the success of the mobile app, Starbucks is looking at expanding its area of functionality. In November, the company launched the service in Canada and in January 2012, the application debuts in the United Kingdom.

Are you cutting the cord to your wallet via your mobile device? Does the success of Starbucks’ application cause you to reconsider? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Such is the tale of Christopher Cristwell, a Starbucks Barista from California. Cristwell, in an apparent effort to voice his frustrations with customer service, created “The Starbucks Rant Song,” and posted the video on YouTube. While the video/song is an attempt at voicing frustration through humor, it was enough to cost Cristwell his job, which, after hearing the lyrics of his ditty, might have been his goal all along.

The song in question:

While the term “viral” has been used to describe Cristwell’s creation, the YouTube only has a little over 30,000 views, but once the Starbucks Gossip blog got a hold of it, it was only a matter of time before the ax fell on Cristwell’s Starbucks “career.” In fact, it only took 18 days between the blog’s post that highlighted the video and their follow up post concerning Cristwell’s elimination from the Starbucks crew.

Cristwell actually commented on the Starbucks Gossip post detailing his song, explaining his motivation:

I am actually the guy who did this video.

On that note I just wanted to say that I understand all of the negative critique and accept it. I can’t make everybody happy. I actually love my job and love making the best drinks.

I made this video not for the customer, with whom I love deeply, and not for my managers, with whom I respect and appreciate, but for my fellow baristas. If I was able to provide just a few with some comedic relief after a stressful shift, than I can accept the consequences of my actions.

I’m sorry if it offended you, really.

Yeah, no. At least, that’s what I imagine Starbucks’ reaction to his explanation was.

If you’re in a customer service job and you trash customers in a song and you post a video of the song online, as soon as your superiors find out, you’ll probably be in the unemployment line, and if Cristwell really did value his job, he should’ve known better. All in all, it sounds a lot like Cristwell was backtracking a little in an effort to let his superiors know the song was a joke meant for other Baristas who may be frustrated with their day-to-day duties.

As for Cristwell now, he’s just another victim of viral content fun that gets ruined because it pisses the management off. In other words, he has no one to blame but himself for not being a Barista any longer, but again, considering the lyrics, while throwing out his “oh, wait” explanation, it’s doubtful Cristwell actually cared about being a Starbucks employee, something he doesn’t have to worry about any longer.

Just save the photo on your smartphone, go to your local Starbucks, and scan the barcode. Simple as that. You’ll have a free cup of piping hot coffee.

And before you ask, no, this is not a marketing campaign from Starbucks. Stark addresses that on his site by saying, “In case it wasn’t obvious from the complete lack of design, this site is totally not affiliated with Starbucks.” Don’t knock your site design Jonathan…it’s clean and easy to navigate!

Of course Jonathan’s card doesn’t have an unlimited balance, and without the second part of the experiment its funds would be depleted in no time. That’s the karma part – “If you’re feeling generous,” he says, “you can also add money to my Starbucks card.”

Yes, people are asked to participate in both sides of the experiment – getting coffee for free and giving coffee to others. If you want to donate to Jonathan’s card, simply go to the Starbucks website and click “reload a card.” His card number is 6061006913522430, FYI.

Johnathan’s Starbucks card has its own Twitter account and Facebook page, with almost 13,000 followers and 4000 likes respectively. The twitter account posts balance updates every few minutes and by the looks of it, the digital card must be hot with use. Within the last 30 minutes, the card has gone from a balance of $28.11 to $16.95 to empty – and then back up to $25.00 to $8.04 to empty. As of just a few minutes ago, someone loaded $100 onto the card.

The Facebook page contains various types of posts. Some are simply saying that it’s a great idea, others are letting everyone know how much they just added to the card. Some are even posting photos and videos of the “experiment” in progress.

Apparently, the card started with a balance of $30. Since then, over $10,000 worth of transactions have been made, both in debit and credit.

“It’s been a bit emotional, actually,” Stark told CNN. “People’s reactions have ranged from accusing me of stealing to thanking me for renewing their faith in humanity.”

What do you think of this experiment in social giving? Let us know in the comments.

If you aren’t familiar with how it works, it’s simple.  The Starbucks Digital Network is a partnership with Yahoo.  As long as you are connected to Starbucks’ free wi-fi, you are allowed to access the Digital Network via laptop, tablet or smartphone.  The network contains many things one could access without the help of Starbucks like the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Yahoo! Finance and Zagat.  The draw of the network is that all the content is offered in a “snackable format” to accommodate info gathering on the go.

Starbucks has now added additional content to the network.  First, ESPN Insider Rumor Central, which is a paid service if you access is through regular means.  It provides breaking sports news, predictions, and analysis.  Second, The Economist, which will be allowing access to both the online version of its print format as well as online-only content.  Last, Mediabistro, which provides instructional videos for entrepreneurs and job hunters.

“Following the fall launch, we’ve continued to seek feedback from our customers so we can continue to shape and grow the Starbucks Digital Network in a way that is authentic to the Starbucks Experience, inspires conversation and invites new customers to experience our content offering when they visit their neighborhood Starbucks,” said Stephen Gillett, Starbucks chief information officer, executive vice president Digital Ventures. “Today we’re broadening the offering and will continue to develop the network’s channels with a spectrum of new content.”

Oh, and one more thing.  Coming in April, full access to the complete Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.

Even though the digital network contains Starbucks’ own content as well, the rest of the content seems to be legitimately interesting stuff that I would browse.  It remains to be seen, however, whether people will swallow “snackable” portions of information hand picked by Starbucks or not.  Once on their wi-fi, you can access the network by either starbucks.yahoo.com or via an iPhone app.

Let’s cover the funding news first, since there’s not much to say.  Groupon only explained in a statement, "Maveron LLC, a venture capital firm co-founded by Mr. Schultz, has invested in the company."

Also, if you’re curious, the Maveron site shows that previous investments include more than a few successful entities, like Cranium, eBay, The Motley Fool, and Shutterfly.

As for Schultz, he’ll be the seventh member of Groupon’s board, joining Peter Barris, Kevin Efrusy, Brad Keywell, Eric Lefkofsky, Ted Leonsis, and Andrew Mason.  Groupon appears very happy to have him, as well.  The company stressed that Schultz was able to make Starbucks much more popular (and profitable).

Mason, the founder and CEO of Groupon, also said, "As CEO of one of the world’s most iconic brands, Howard is an invaluable addition to the Groupon board.  His experience in building the culture and business of Starbucks and his relentless focus on innovation to improve customer experiences brings a unique combination of skills to our Board of Directors."

There wasn’t any mention of Google or Super Bowl commercials, by the way.

The new mobile payment program now includes 6,800 company-operated stores and more than 1,000 Starbucks in U.S. Target locations.

“Today, one in five Starbucks transactions is made using a Starbucks Card and mobile payment will extend the way our customers experience and use their Starbucks Card,” said Brady Brewer, vice president Starbucks Card and Brand Loyalty.

“With mobile payment, the Starbucks Card platform further elevates the customer experience by delivering convenience, rewarding loyalty and continuing to build an emotional connection with our customers.”

Users can download the free Starbucks Card Mobile App for select BlackBerry smartphones, iPhone or iPod touch mobile devices. Customers can pay with their smartphone by holding their mobile device in front of a scanner on the countertop and scan the Starbucks Card Mobile App’s on-screen barcode to make a purchase

The company said Rodale, Nick Jr. Boost and DonorsChoose.org will join the previously announced content providers iTunes, The New York Times, Patch, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo and Zagat.

"We’re creating an online destination that will be true to, and expand upon, the Starbucks experience by delivering free, premium offerings that are selected specifically for our customers and localized for increased personal and community relevance," said Stephen Gillett, Starbucks CIO and general manager of Digital Ventures, a business unit of Starbucks.

"To bring this to life, we partnered with Yahoo to develop the platform as well as to power the search feature and contribute content."

The Starbucks Digital Network will offer customers free Wi-Fi with access to six different channel categories including news, entertainment, wellness, business & careers, my neighborhood and Starbucks.
 

The first part of this plan will go into effect on July 1st.  Starbucks has promised that, starting that Thursday, there will be easy-to-access WiFi with no strings attached.  Forget about hourly beverage purchases, obtaining a Starbucks card, or facing a time limit, in other words.

The Starbucks Digital Network will follow later, launching sometime this fall.  It sounds impressive, too, with some genuine perks available to balance out whatever promotional stuff is also present.

An official announcement on the subject indicated, "This online experience . . . will be unique in its content offerings, allowing customers free unrestricted access to various paid sites and services such as wsj.com, exclusive content and previews, free downloads, local community news and activities, on their laptops, tablets or smart phones."

Yahoo’s last (and still ongoing) big to-do involving free WiFi benefited visitors to New York’s Times Square.

Wireless carrier T-Mobile found itself tossed out of the land of baristas and lattes in favor of AT&T. The new deal brought about a much faster switch to AT&T than T-Mobile wanted to see.

T-Mobile contended in a new suit cited by Reuters that AT&T swooped in too soon to scoop up the goodies and serve Starbucks’ customers. The carrier alleged AT&T and Starbucks kicked up the pace of the switchover by taking advantage of the infrastructure T-Mobile put in place.

AT&T service in Starbucks was not supposed to begin in a market until all the stores in the market received the technology change away from T-Mobile’s network. An agreement in February between all three companies on the switchover gave T-Mobile the right to keep selling services in Starbucks until such market changes took place.

Starbucks defended the early change, saying in the report they sought to ensure the availability of Wi-Fi in its stores for customers.

The appeal of wireless access to Starbucks and other service-oriented businesses hinges on the increasingly mobility of segments of the workforce. Mobile workers like salespeople spend little time in offices, and benefit from being able to connect and work from remote places.

Some enlightened employers found that permitting a remote option for workers who customarily come into an office proved useful, not only in productivity but in terms of quality of life. If a Starbucks or similarly Wi-Fi equipped business presents a shorter commute for someone, that’s an additional perk as gas prices continue their uncontrollable rise.

 Expanding their ongoing marketing partnership, Starbucks and iTunes yesterday announced Pick of the Week, offering coffeehouse customers free downloads and videos. Upcoming Pick of the Week artists include Carly Simon, Duffy, Counting Crows, Adele, Sia, and Hilary McRae.

Each Tuesday, more than 7,000 Starbucks US locations will give away download cards redeemable on the iTunes for a complimentary song or music video. The first Pick of the Week, available now is Counting Crows’ “Washington Square.”

“With Pick of the Week, Starbucks will leverage its trusted curatorial voice in music and entertainment through its partnership with iTunes to provide our customers with a world-class digital discovery experience,” said Ken Lombard, president Starbucks Entertainment.

“Pick of the Week provides an incredible way for Starbucks customers to discover great new music and videos for free on the iTunes Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “With the world’s largest online catalog of music and video there is truly something for everyone.

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