Starbucks is launching a new Web3-based digital community where customers can purchase "digital collectible assets" and unlock "immersive coffee experiences."
First teased in May, Odyssey invites Starbucks Rewards members and employees to participate in various activities to earn non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Complete games and challenges (aimed at deepening players' "knowledge of coffee and Starbucks"), and you'll be rewarded with digital collectible "journey stamps," each with a point value based on its rarity.
NFTs may be bought or sold among members, whose points increase to unlock bonuses like a virtual espresso martini-making class, merchandise and artist collaborations, an invite to exclusive events, or even a trip to Starbucks' Hacienda Alsacia coffee farm in Costa Rica.
Limited-edition tokens, meanwhile, are available to purchase through a built-in marketplace within the Odyssey website; a portion of proceeds from special stamps will be donated to as-yet unnamed "causes that matter to Starbucks partners and Starbucks Rewards members."
"Starbucks has always served as the Third Place, a place between home and work where you feel the warmth of connection over coffee, community, and belonging," EVP and CMO Brady Brewer said in a statement. "The Starbucks Odyssey experience will extend the Third Place connection to the digital world."
Interested customers can join the waitlist online; select members will receive invitations later this year, with more folks gaining access as Starbucks Odyssey evolves.
The coffeehouse chain, which promised to build its NFT collections on an environmentally sustainable Web3 infrastructure, will utilize a "proof-of-stake" technology built by Polygon, which uses less energy than first-gen "proof-of-work" blockchains.