Starbucks In-App Purchasing Takes a Big Step

Starbucks, which has been experimenting with its Pick of the Week promotion that lets customers download music and apps while in a Starbucks store, is again trying something new: This week’s Pick of the Week for iOS users is an in-app purchase, 9 to 5 Mac reported.

Customers who have the iOS app can use it to redeem a Pick of the Week code to download the mobile version of Lumosity, a puzzle app specifically designed to exercise a user’s brain using neuropsychological and cognitive theory. The app is then upgraded for free to the $15 Lumosity Premium package, which includes more than 40 games online, performance tracking, a personalized brain-training experience with daily exercises, and comparison to others in the same age group.

The Lumosity upgrade requires the iPhone or iPod Touch Starbucks app to activate, but then it can be applied to Lumosity’s other apps and platforms, including Lumosity’s iPad, Android and web versions.

The promotion represents another digital step for Starbucks, which started the Pick of the Week program using cards that customers could pick up in Starbucks stores. In April 2013 the chain added the ability to download digital content while connected to an in-store Starbucks wireless network, and in January 2014 the chain began to let customers redeem offers by using the app to scan the codes on Pick of the Week cards.