Starbucks to use Polygon for its NFT-based loyalty platform

Using Ethereum scaling network Polygon, coffee chain Starbucks will launch The Starbucks Odyssey program that will give away NFT stamps to customers and employees and sell limited edition NFTs. The coffee giant plans to give out and sell digital stamps that can unlock perks like exclusive merch, private events, and trips.

On Sept. 12, Starbucks announced its plans to offer its customers NFT rewards through Polygon, an Ethereum scaling network. The NFTs will unlock access to things like merchandise and events.

The Starbucks Odyssey program, scheduled to launch later this year, will let customers and employees in the US earn digital stamps as rewards and purchase and trade limited edition digital stamps. Each stamp will be minted as an NFT or a blockchain token that represents ownership for things like digital collectibles and artwork.

Billed as an extension of the existing Starbucks Rewards program, the initiative will let customers earn “journey stamp” NFTs by completing challenges and playing interactive games through the coffee chain’s app.

On the other hand, the limited edition NFT stamps will be sold by the company and can be purchased with credit cards – cryptocurrency won’t be required. A Starbucks Odyssey web app will then feature a secondary marketplace to let stamp owners buy and sell them on their own.

Among the incentives for users to collect these stamps are: the NFTs could boost a user’s level in the Odyssey app, which lead to potential rewards – from virtual drink-mixing classes to exclusive merchandise, access to private events, or a trip to Starbucks’ Costa Rican coffee farm.

Later this day, NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway tweeted it will power the Starbucks Odyssey platform. The marketplace, the best known for NFT collections from artists like Beeple and musician The Weeknd, recently launched a Publishers initiative that lets brands and creators develop their own NFT drops.