The Stress Test Every Business Needs

12Can your strategy thrive in a digital world?

Tony Qui and Glenn Engler

It started with a straightforward question. Someone in the Starbucks marketing department in 2010 asked: “Wouldn’t it be great if we had one of those prepaid, stored-value cards?”

Starbucks created one. That soon led to another enhancement, which was a loyalty program: after customers bought several drinks, they could get a free latte or other drink. Then the program grew into one with the ability to send gift cards, because one in seven adults receives gift cards during the holidays.

Soon thereafter the card became a mobile phone app, and the focus turned to improving the customer experience in Starbucks stores. Starbucks found that when mobile pay solutions were offered, three things happened: it was more convenient and faster for many customers to pay that way; order details were conveyed more effectively because the customer entered the specifics of the order; and it increased the throughput or number of customers a store could serve at peak periods by more than 10%, mainly because the customer didn’t have to search for exact change to hand the barista.

Speaking of baristas, Starbucks studied what was the biggest determinant of whether a customer would return to a store, and it was the barista. Does the person know you? Is he or she smiling? If so, most customers would come back. If the place is going crazy with orders and lines are moving slowly, customers usually don’t come back as quickly. Therefore, ...