One in 5 South Koreans claims Starbucks Rewards stars

Starbucks Korea saw members of its rewards program surpass 10 million this month, meaning that one in every five South Koreans is a registered member of the coffee chain loyalty program, according to the company on Tuesday.

The No. 1 coffee chain in South Korea has steadily increased its number of Starbucks Rewards members since the program was introduced in September 2011. The number hit the 1 million mark in May 2014.

Those in their 30s took the biggest portion with 34%, followed by fortysomethings with 26% and those in their 20s or younger with 26%. Those in their 50s or older made up the remaining 14%.

The Starbucks Rewards program offers free coffee, food or other items to those paying for drinks with the rewards cards and accumulating a certain number of points, or stars, in return.

To date, Starbucks Rewards fans have earned a total of 153 million stars in Korea, which were redeemed for more than 190 million cups of free drinks.

Starbucks Korea also uses the rewards cards to communicate with its customers.

A primary example is “My Starbucks Review,” a digital survey platform for rewards cardholders. It will also use their feedback to develop new products and improve services.

Write to Kyeong-Je Han at hankyung@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.