Starbucks takes a cue from local cafes as it quietly tests a new rewards pilot, ‘Coffee Loop’
Starbucks is experimenting with a new rewards program that may be familiar to anyone who has accumulated punch cards from their local coffee shop over the years.
The coffee giant is quietly testing a new “buy nine coffees, get one free” rewards perk for select loyalty members.
On Thursday, Starbucks emailed some Rewards members about the program, called Coffee Loop, presenting it as a time-sensitive pilot that is only available to select Starbucks Rewards members in the U.S., per emails and other communications reviewed by Modern Retail. The program gives customers one free hot-brewed coffee or one free iced coffee for every nine they buy. Space in Coffee Loop is “limited,” according to Starbucks, which called the program a “test” that “could end at any time.” The program exists, for now, as a separate website and does not live within the Starbucks iOS app.
A Starbucks spokesperson confirmed the new program to Modern Retail. The spokesperson said select Starbucks Rewards members who are invited and opt-in to participate in Coffee Loop will earn a “dot” with each qualifying purchase of a hot or iced coffee at participating shops. After collecting nine dots, customers will receive a coupon for a free hot-brewed or iced coffee of any size.
The spokesperson said that invites to join the Starbucks Rewards Coffee Loop are sent directly to select Starbucks Rewards members via email. Other invited members will be added to a waitlist. “We look forward to learning more from our customers and partners (baristas), and don’t have further details to share on the future of the program,” the spokesperson said.
There are some limits, though; Starbucks said Nitro Cold Brews, Cold Brews and refills do not count toward the “buy nine, get one free” rule. Neither do “reward, promotional and partner markout drinks.” Multiple purchases in the same transaction do count, and customers can still customize their hot and iced coffees while earning points.
Coffee Loop is the latest iteration of Starbucks’s Rewards program, which the company depends on for revenue as it looks to buck sales slumps. In July, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said Starbucks will launch “significant innovations” to the Rewards program in early 2026. The company is “addressing key customer feedback and introducing exciting new features designed to grow loyalty, brand love and engagement,” he said.
Starbucks’s U.S. comparable store sales have declined year over year for the last six quarters in a row, per earnings reports. And while Rewards members have historically been responsible for a large chunk of Starbucks’s operating revenue — about 57% in Q3 of 2023 — the program has lost some members, as of late. Starbucks’s number of active Rewards members in a 90-day period dropped from 34.6 million in December 2024 to 34 million in June 2025.
Starbucks’s Rewards program has undergone several changes since launching as a physical card back in 2008, including some changes that have received backlash from loyal customers. In 2022, it started requiring more rewards points for redemptions. And in May, Starbucks did away with its popular 25-star bonus for members bringing in their own cups.
Under the previous CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, Starbucks had an aggressive goal to double the number of global Rewards members in five years, often resorting to frequent discounts in order to do so. Since Niccol took charge, Starbucks has pulled back many of those promotions and has been more selective with discounting.
Brad Jashinsky, director analyst at Gartner, said Starbucks was one of the first QSR brands to offer personalized game-like quests in which customers had to complete a series of actions to unlock rewards. Usually, it was a prompt to purchase a drink or food item multiple times. Drink-only customers were offered food promotions, and morning-only customers would be offered specials to visit in the afternoon, Jashinsky said.
With Coffee Loop, Starbucks is going back to basics.
“The new Coffee Loop program appears to be a limited test of bringing back these types of rewards on a regular basis,” Jashinsky said. “The program appears to be a digital replacement for the tried-and-true stamp card reward system that many QSR brands used for years.” This can help grow frequency by giving away relatively low-cost coffee drinks while getting an extra visit out of a customer.
Allan Levy, the founder and CEO of consulting agency Alchemy Worx, said the testing of new rewards features is about consistently identifying the best program that resonates with customers.
“In a competitive environment, companies are looking for simpler ways of engaging,” Levy said. Thus, Starbucks is testing the market with new ideas and innovations to identify which types of programs best fit its vast audiences. And, thanks to personalized in-app features based on customer data, Levy said, “You don’t have to approach all audiences the same way.”
Jashinsky said doing invite-only test runs of programs like Coffee Loop is best practice before rolling them out widely. “This ensures brands can understand how it changes customer behavior and impacts operations,” he said.