After Starbucks changes its rewards rules, McDonald’s sees an opportunity to vie for coffee customers.
McDonald’s is creating a loyalty program that can be accessed via its smartphone app and will likely reward customers with deals based on how many times they visit the QSR chain each month.
Yahoo News reported that the app will also track purchases in order to learn each customer’s menu preferences and is expected to debut at the end of 2016 or in early 2017.
McDonald’s appears to be following Starbucks’ example in a hope of attracting customers away from the coffee giant.
Currently Starbucks’ app rewards customers every time the make a purchase just like the McDonald’s app plans to do. But starting in April, Starbucks is changing its rewards format, instead rewarding its customers based on the amount of money spent per trip. The move would mean someone who purchases black coffee everyday would no longer receive as many points as a customer purchasing a more expensive latte.
Starbucks’ customers have been vocal about how much they dislike Starbucks’ plan to change the way rewards are calculated.
Yahoo News speculated McDonald’s may be aiming to convince Starbucks’ coffee customers to switch to buying coffee at McDonald’s where they’ll be rewarded for their visit no matter how much money they spend.
