Starbucks launches a controversial loyalty program in Russia

MOSCOW – Starbucks in Russia has updated its loyalty program following the similar changes in the US market. The new program My Starbucks Rewards started on April 18, though Russian version has some differences. A start is still awarded for a purchase, regardless the summ on the check.

According to the new award system in the United States, the customers now get two stars for each dollar spent. This change has caused a lot of the disapproval among Starbucks fans, according to local press.

Starbucks Corp. fell the most in more than two months after Deutsche Bank AG downgraded the stock, saying that changes to the company’s loyalty program may hurt customer traffic, reported horeca-magazine.ru.