Starbucks’ social gifting feature launches in China

Starbucks has extended its social gifting promotions into China, where it has launched a major expansion program to double its stores within the next five years.

The coffee giant’s new “Say It With Starbucks” program, created by Starbucks and Weixin, China’s leading mobile social communications app, enables users to gift a Starbucks beverage or digital gift card via a social gifting platform.

A sister product of WeChat, China’s leading mobile social messaging app, Weixin’s platform has 846 million global monthly active users, as of third quarter 2016. The launch comes on the heels of a strategic partnership between Starbucks and Tencent, WeChat’s developer, in December 2016.

Users will be able to select from a curated selection of Starbucks-branded gifts and add a personalized message in the form of text, images or video to uplift the day of a loved one, Starbucks explained. Once a gift is received, it will be saved in the recipient’s Weixin app and can be redeemed at any Starbucks store in Mainland China.

During the initial launch period, Weixin added access to ‘Say it with Starbucks’ users in its Weixin Wallet-function. This partnership makes Starbucks the first retail brand to bring a locally-relevant social gifting experience in China, the coffee giant said.

Starbucks launched a trial phase two weeks ago among employees and Starbucks customers.