On October 20, Starbucks launched the Starbucks Digital Network, in partnership with Yahoo! in nearly 6,800 U.S. venues of the chain. Serving up a collection of hand-picked premium news, entertainment and lifestyle content along with local insights and events, the Starbucks Digital Network, is powered by free Wi-Fi and available only in the chain’s stores. Developed for screens big and small, customers with Wi-Fi enabled laptops, tablets or smartphones can visit the network while in line or while enjoying their favorite beverage in the café.
Designed to deliver a new, enhanced in-store experience for customers, the Starbucks Digital Network is the first in-store network of its kind. The digital network’s hand-picked premium content spans six channels: News, Entertainment, Wellness, Business & Careers, My Neighborhood and Starbucks. Newly signed content providers include Bookish Reading Club, Foursquare, GOOD, LinkedIn, New Word City and The Weather Channel, which joined such content providers as iTunes, Rodale, Nick Jr. Boost, DonorsChoose.org, The New York Times, Patch, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo!, Zagat and others. The Starbucks Digital Network has a team of editors who selects the content appearing on the network.
On the landing page header, customers can check-into Foursquare, see their My Starbucks Rewards status when logged in and even get the local weather. The Weather Channel will provide the most up-to-date local weather conditions and the regional Doppler radar map for each U.S. Starbucks. Customers can access a social media dashboard on the footer of the landing page featuring Starbucks four main social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, My Starbucks Idea and YouTube.
“What you see today, is only the beginning,” said Adam Brotman, Starbucks Digital Ventures vice president. “Expect more localized content and community features in the future, more ways to personalize your experience, new ways to be rewarded and an ever-growing collection of premium content. We look forward to hearing from our customers as those ideas will contribute to how the Starbucks Digital Networks continues to grow.”