Starbucks is one of the most popular coffee brands in the world; its green mermaid logo can be seen in 70 countries. But how does Starbucks manage to get you to spend so much money so it could expand to every corner of the world? Here’s why.

Starbucks Reward Program

One way Starbucks gets their customers to spend more money on “drinks” they don’t even drink is the “Starbucks Reward Program”. Basically how this program works is that customers spend money to earn stars. The more you get, the better rewards you can get (35 NTD = 1 star). There are three tiers in this program: the starter tier, the green tier, and the gold tier. The higher the tier, the better the rewards customers can get.

This program encourages customers to spend a little more money on Starbucks each visit so they can reach the next tier. The highest tier, which is the gold tier, requires 168 stars, if you do the math, that’s 5,040 NTD spent on Starbucks. In this way Starbucks makes customers spend more money without even noticing.

Limited time drinks and merchandise

The Starbucks reward program is just one way Starbucks makes you spend more money. Limited drinks and merchandise is another way Starbucks makes their fans rush to shops to get these limited time drinks or merchandise.

One good example of a limited drink is the “double double fudge bar frappuccino”. It came out as a limited time offer during 2016. Many people rushed to Starbucks just to try this “special” beverage.

Another example is the limited holiday season merchandise. Starbucks always displays it in the most eye-catching part of the shop, making customers look twice.

They hide the short size cup

Whenever you’re ordering your favorite drink at Starbucks, on the counter, you can always see the familiar tall, grande, and venti size cups. But what Starbucks doesn’t tell you is that there’s a secret short size cup, which is cheaper than all the other three sizes. Starbucks purposely displays the more expensive cups to make customers think that those are the only choices so they spend more money on the orders.

Conclusion

From turning ordering food and drinks into a game to making the cheapest cup a secret, the rise of Starbucks all started with some sneaky marketing strategies they still use today.