The company projects December 23 will be the busiest day for Starbucks Card purchases, and nearly $3 billion will be loaded on Starbucks Cards this season.&nbsp;

core/paragraph

Starbucks anticipates that more than 1 in 6 Americans will receive a Starbucks Card this holiday season, following a record-breaking holiday season for Starbucks Card sales in 2021. Last year, Starbucks sold more than 55 million Starbucks Cards, including both physical and digital cards in the U.S. and Canada during the holiday season, and projects that number will increase this year to over 58 million cards sold. Nearly $3 billion dollars will be loaded on to Starbucks Cards from October to December, representing another robust holiday quarter of Starbucks Card sales as expected and included in the company’s financial outlook.&nbsp;

“Starbucks is one of the most gifted brands in the world, and we are honored that our customers continue to give Starbucks Cards as a meaningful gift during the holiday season,” said Brady Brewer, Starbucks chief marketing officer. “Starbucks - in so many ways - is a currency of kindness. By giving a Starbucks Card, you’re giving an experience and opportunity to connect over coffee.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

The National Retail Federation <a href="https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/record-1663-million-shoppers-expected-during-thanksgiving-weekend" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a> that gift cards will remain a favorite gift item in 2022, with total spend expected to reach $28.6 billion, and that holiday shoppers plan to purchase between three to four gift cards each. Starbucks anticipates that December 23rd will be the company’s busiest day for Starbucks Card sales, as gift cards continue to make a popular gift all season long.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Gift cards have been available at Starbucks since 1994 as an alternative to paper gift certificates, and Starbucks was among the first major retailers to offer a reloadable card, which <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/a-look-back-at-20-years-of-starbucks-cards/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">debuted in 2001</a>.That was the year Starbucks Cards became one of the most popular holiday gifts of the season, selling nearly 200,000 in the first week alone. For just a few dollars, customers could give a meaningful gift to loved ones, and the cards helped spread the word about Starbucks as its number of stores grew from more than 4,700 in 2001 to more than 35,000 stores today.&nbsp;

More than nearly 1,700 Starbucks Card designs have been released over the 20-plus years of the program. Today, Starbucks Cards are available in a variety of designs in both physical and digital formats and can be loaded with $5 to $100. Physical Starbucks Cards can be purchased at Starbucks stores in more than 42 countries around the world in a variety of formats and designs. They are also available at more than 100,000 locations including grocery stores and other retailers.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Starbucks eGift Cards can be purchased and gifted through the company’s <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/gift" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>, the <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/rewards/mobile-apps/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Starbucks app</a>, Apple iMessage and <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/a-new-way-to-gift-send-starbucks-egifts-through-microsoft-teams/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft Teams</a>, and can be sent with a personalized message for the recipient to include a special holiday greeting or wishes for a happy new year.&nbsp;

Starbucks Cards are the gift that keeps on giving. When customers register a Starbucks Card with the Starbucks Rewards loyalty program and make a qualifying purchase, they can start to earn Stars that can be redeemed for Starbucks beverages, food and more. Some restrictions apply. Details can be found at <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/rewards" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">starbucks.com/rewards</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Visit <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/gift" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">starbucks.com/gift</a> to view this year’s holiday designs and to learn more about all the ways to purchase a Starbucks Card.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Read more about Starbucks holiday news and highlights <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/2022-starbucks-holiday-highlights/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Collage of three cards with illustrations of snowman and dog, mittens holding a cup, and a gingerbread house

Starbucks Anticipates More than 1 in 6 Americans will Receive a Starbucks Card this Holiday Season

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/01/Photo_TBD-320x411_1-1.jpg

Starbucks Corporation

The company projects December 23 will be the busiest day for Starbucks Card purchases, and nearly $3 billion will be loaded on Starbucks Cards this season. 

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2022/12/SBX20221220-HolidayGiftCards-FeatureHorizontal.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2022/starbucks-anticipates-more-than-1-in-6-will-receive-a-starbucks-card-this-holiday-season/

twitter:card

twitter:description

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2022/12/SBX20221220-HolidayGiftCards-FeatureHorizontal-1024x498.jpg

twitter:image

twitter:title

Starbucks also projects nearly $3 billion will be loaded onto Starbucks Cards this holiday season

As customers finalize their holiday shopping, Starbucks anticipates the busiest day for purchases of Starbucks Cards on December 23, citing the perennial popularity of gift cards as one of the most popular gifts during the holiday season. Last year, more than 46 million Starbucks Cards, which includes both physical and digital cards, were purchased in the U.S. and Canada during the holiday season. Starbucks projects that nearly $3 billion will be loaded onto Starbucks Cards from October to December this year. &nbsp;&nbsp;

“For more than 20 years, Starbucks Cards have made the perfect gift for loved ones during the holiday season, and we’re on track for another record performance of Starbucks Card sales. We are predicting that December 23 will be our busiest day of the year for Starbucks Card sales as customers finalize their holiday gifting,” said Starbucks chief marketing officer Brady Brewer.

core/image

According to the <a href="https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/thanksgiving-weekend-see-more-holiday-shoppers-last-year-and-consumers">National Retail Federation</a>, 46% of shoppers plan to buy gift cards this holiday season, making it the second most popular gift. Moreover, gift card sales are expected to total $28.1 billion this holiday season as shoppers plan to buy three or four cards, spending an average of $48.92 per card.

Starbucks first gift cards debuted in stores in November 2001, and although gift cards had been available at Starbucks since 1994 as an alternative to paper gift certificates, Starbucks was among the first major retailers to offer a reloadable card. In 2001, Starbucks Cards became one of the most popular holiday gifts of the season, selling nearly 200,000 in the first week alone. For just a few dollars, customers could give a meaningful gift to loved ones, and the cards helped spread the word about Starbucks as its number of stores grew from more than 4,700 in 2001 to more than 33,000 stores today.

More than 1,500 Starbucks Card designs have been released over the 20 years of the program. Today, Starbucks Cards are available in a variety of designs in both physical and digital formats and can be loaded with $5 to $100. Physical Starbucks Cards are available year-round in dozens of designs at Starbucks <a href="http://www.starbucks.com/store-locator/search">stores</a> in more than 40 countries around the world. They are also available in more than 100,000 locations outside Starbucks stores, including grocery stores and other retailers.

core/gallery

Starbucks eGift Cards are available for purchase on <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/gift" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Starbucks.com</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.starbucks.com/rewards/mobile-apps/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Starbucks app</a>, and customers can select from a variety of eGift designs, choose any amount between $5-$100,&nbsp;add a personal message, enter an email address and hit send.

Apple iPhone users who have the Starbucks app can text their holiday wishes, thanks, congratulations or just let a friend know they care by sending a Starbucks eGift using iMessage. Scroll through iMessage’s app ribbon at the bottom of the screen and select the Starbucks logo for “Starbucks Gifts.”&nbsp;

Starbucks eGifts can also be sent on Microsoft Teams.&nbsp;When Microsoft Teams&nbsp;is open,&nbsp;look for the&nbsp;apps button in the&nbsp;Teams&nbsp;navigation bar.&nbsp;Select the Starbucks app&nbsp;and download. Next, login (or set up) your Starbucks Rewards account,&nbsp;open a chat or channel to select the team member you’d like to send an eGift to,&nbsp;select the&nbsp;card design,&nbsp;recipient, gift amount,&nbsp;then&nbsp;personalize&nbsp;your&nbsp;message and send through Microsoft&nbsp;Teams&nbsp;by adding to a chat or channel.&nbsp;

Starbucks Cards are the gift that keeps on giving. When customers register a Starbucks Card with the Starbucks Rewards&nbsp;loyalty program and make a qualifying purchase, they can&nbsp;start to earn Stars that can be redeemed for Starbucks beverages,&nbsp;food&nbsp;and more. Some restrictions apply. At participating stores. &nbsp;Details can be found at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.starbucks.com/rewards" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">starbucks.com/rewards</a>.&nbsp;

See <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/gift">starbucks.com/gift</a> for this year’s holiday designs and to learn more about all the ways to purchase a Starbucks Card.

Last year, more than 46 million Starbucks Cards, which includes both physical and digital cards, were purchased in the U.S. and Canada during the holiday season.

Starbucks Anticipates Busiest Day for Starbucks Card Purchases on December 23

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2021/12/SBX20211220-HOL_GiftCards-FeatureHorizontal.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2021/starbucks-anticipates-busiest-day-for-starbucks-card-purchases-on-december-23/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2021/12/SBX20211220-HOL_GiftCards-FeatureHorizontal-1024x498.jpg

When the first Starbucks gift cards debuted in stores in November 2001, they actually came with a tiny owner’s manual with instructions and a toll-free phone number. Although gift cards had been around since 1994 as an alternative to paper gift certificates, Starbucks was among the first major retailers to offer a reloadable card. It became one of the most popular holiday gifts of the season, selling nearly 200,000 in the first week alone. For just a few dollars, customers could give a meaningful gift to friends and colleagues, and the cards helped spread the word about Starbucks as its number of stores grew from 3,500 to the more than 32,000 around the world today.

Beyond convenience, there was something more: a joyful expression of the holiday conveyed by the cards themselves. More than 1,100 Starbucks gift card designs have been released over the nearly 20 years of the program, each one a canvas for the Starbucks in-house creative team. Designs range from vintage to modern, with illustration styles from the cartoon-like line art to bold vector graphics. They have been made with alternative materials like wood and <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2016/new-special-edition-starbucks-cards/">recycled burlap coffee bags</a>, adorned with <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/crystal-starbucks-holiday-2015-cards-in-asia/">Swarovski crystals</a>, cut into festive shapes, and even <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2009/starbucks-introduces-a-mini-version-of-its-popular-starbucks-card/">dangled from a keychain</a>.

“The Starbucks card is the most fun thing to work on,” said Meghan O’Brien, senior designer in the Starbucks Creative Studio. “It’s such an expressive part of our brand, and one with so much emotion baked into it. The card designs are something that makes your heart warm.”

core/heading

Motifs for the early Starbucks gift cards started out pretty traditionally, with just one or two designs each holiday season for the first several years. The company expanded its holiday collection starting in 2010, when it added the first Hanukkah and Kwanzaa cards. In 2014, Starbucks cards launched in China with its <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2014/starbucks-expands-starbucks-cards-to-china-in-time-for-the-lunar-new-year/">Lunar New Year</a> series, and also expanded its card offerings to <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2014/exclusive-starbucks-dot-collection-and-100-starbucks-cards/">more than 100 holiday designs</a> in U.S. and Canada stores. More cards meant more designs, which could range from the kitschy (pink flamingos in Santa hats?) to <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2013/starbucks-offers-new-limited-edition-metal-starbucks-card-in-time-of-the-ho/">edgy limited-edition metal cards</a>. Today, they are so popular, about one-in-seven Americans receive a Starbucks card as a gift each holiday.

The cards also began to tell tales of their own. In 2005, there was the first holiday tree, strapped atop an old-fashioned sedan. There was also dog in the backseat looking out the window with a smile, the first featured pooch in what would become a veritable menagerie of animals on cards. There’s also a gingerbread man named Jerry, a sweet annual addition to the Starbucks holiday card collection since 2015.

“The Starbucks card has become the perfect encapsulation of our brand, something that people hold dear to their hearts,” O’Brien said. “These cards have become such a meaningful way to tell stories and share those holiday moments with each other.”

Perhaps the most beloved character is a snowman that named &nbsp;Brian, who made his Starbucks card debut in 2010 with a cup of coffee nestled improbably in one stick-hand. He quickly became a customer favorite and has returned each year, often sporting a cozy scarf and a smile. In 2013 he was joined by his avian sidekick, dubbed Louie in honor of the St. Louis Cardinals. Their bromance has been featured with a card each year ever since.

“Our brand has so much joy in it,” O’Brien said. “That’s how Brian and Louie evolved – it starts with this cute snowy scene and then you add in a moment of friendship and sweetness. You can feel that magic between these two characters.”

The technology behind the Starbucks card has evolved even more than the cards themselves. The original cards, with a specific dollar amount loaded on to them, gained the benefits of a loyalty card when the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2008/starbucks-card-rewards-puts-extra-value-in-your-wallet/">Starbucks Rewards program</a> launched in 2008. Now any Starbucks card could be used to enroll in the program, where members, earn Stars on purchases that can be redeemed for Rewards like free food, drinks, and more... In January 2011, there was another leap forward with the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2011/mobile-payment-debuts-nationally-at-starbucks/">national launch of mobile payment</a> through the Starbucks card Mobile app, turning any iPhone into a Starbucks card. By Valentine’s Day that same year, Starbucks rolled out eGift, allowing customers to send the gift of Starbucks by email. Today, Starbucks eGifts can now also be sent via text using an iPhone or through the <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/rewards/mobile-apps">Starbucks app</a>.

“Now that we’re in our twentieth season of Starbucks card, the digital world has become a bigger part of customers’ lives,” said Rachel Heiss, who leads the out-of-store Starbucks card program. “We want to meet people where they are and where they want to be.”

How to give the gift of Starbucks

Starbucks cards are available in a variety of designs in both physical and digital formats and can be loaded with $5 to $500. They are available for purchase in Starbucks&nbsp;<a href="http://www.starbucks.com/store-locator/search">stores</a>,&nbsp;<a href="/Users/hpeiper/Downloads/Starbucks.com/gift">online</a>, on the <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/rewards/mobile-apps">Starbucks app</a> and iPhone text message.

Starbucks gift cards: Physical Starbucks cards are available year-round in dozens of designs at Starbucks stores in more than 40 countries around the world, and <a href="https://www.starbuckscardb2b.com">bulk card orders can be made online</a>. They are also available in more than 100,000 locations outside Starbucks stores, including grocery stores and other retailers.

A Starbucks eGift&nbsp;is an easy way to brighten someone’s day online on <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/gift">Starbucks.com</a> and the <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/rewards/mobile-apps">Starbucks app</a>. Choose any dollar value you want to give, add a personal message, enter an email address and hit send. You can select from a variety of eGift designs.

Apple iPhone users who have the Starbucks app users can text their thanks, congratulations or just let a friend know they care by sending a Starbucks eGift using iMessage. Scroll through iMessage’s app ribbon at the bottom of the screen and select the Starbucks logo for “Starbucks Gifts.”

Microsoft&nbsp;Teams&nbsp;

Treat a coworker to coffee on Microsoft Teams.&nbsp;When&nbsp;Microsoft Teams&nbsp;is open,&nbsp;look for the&nbsp;apps button in the&nbsp;Teams&nbsp;navigation bar.&nbsp;Select the Starbucks app&nbsp;and download. Next, login (or set up) your&nbsp;Starbucks Rewards account,&nbsp;open a chat or channel to select the team member you’d like to send an eGift to,&nbsp;select the&nbsp;card design,&nbsp;recipient, gift amount,&nbsp;then&nbsp;personalize&nbsp;your&nbsp;message and send through Microsoft&nbsp;Teams&nbsp;by adding to a chat or channel.&nbsp;Choose any amount between $5-$100.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Time flies when you’re drinking coffee. Here’s a nostalgic look back at two decades of Starbucks card, one of the holiday season’s most popular gifts.

A look back at 20 years of Starbucks cards

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201206-20YearsOfCards-FeatureHorizontal.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/a-look-back-at-20-years-of-starbucks-cards/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201206-20YearsOfCards-FeatureHorizontal-1024x498.jpg

Gift Cards

Gift Cards - Starbucks Stories

Home

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/01/Starbucks_Logo_Hi-res.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/tag/gift-cards/

English

Our aspiration is to be people positive—investing in humanity and the well-being of everyone we connect with, from our partners to coffee farmers to the customers in our stores and beyond.

People

Planet

Coffee is at our heart, inspiring our craft and driving innovation—in our drinks, our food, our stores and new ways we bring the Starbucks experience to you wherever you are.