It’s a free app; add credit to your mobile Starbucks Card, scan the barcode at the cash register, and that iced skinny latte is yours!

By end of July, approximately 7,800 Starbuck’s will support mobile payments, and a total of 9,000 through Safeway Starbuck’s stores including Vons, Pavilions, Dominick's, Randalls, Tom Thumb and Genuardi's stores.

"The expansion of our mobile payment footprint has been driven by customer interest and input. With the addition of Starbucks for Android to the Starbucks app line-up, a Starbucks mobile payment app may now be used on approximately 90 percent of smartphones currently in use," said Adam Brotman, VP/GM Digital Ventures at Starbucks in a release.

Starbucks for Android allows users to:

• Pay with your phone
• Access your Starbucks Card balance directly from your phone
• Reload your card balance with any major major credit card
• Check your My Starbucks Rewards status
• Locate nearby Starbucks stores.

One in five U.S. transactions is paid for with a Starbucks Card, and "While mobile payment is the top feature, customers' next favorites are the ability to reload their Starbucks Card and track their progress toward their next free drink in the My Starbucks Rewards program," says Brady Brewer, VP Starbucks Card and Loyalty.

Mobile BI

Starbucks has also launched a business intelligence (BI) software trial on tablet devices to help its executives making in-store visits view real-time, location-aware data.

Using MicroStrategy 9.2.1 software, employees can initiate BI transactions from a mobile device. While iPad’s continue to accelerate the tablet computer market, Starbucks is investing in the BI software as a means to place financial data, on-site, for execs and managers in a network connecting hundreds of users simultaneously, leveraging its current MicroStrategy BI software deployed since 2009.

"Tablets are uniquely suited to B.I. so you can stand there talking in a store and have the latest info or a report without having to try to open a laptop. The idea is to create a Starbucks model to leverage many devices and have as little as possible of being tied into one. The iPad is obviously hot today, but HP's device might be hot tomorrow."

MicroStrategy brings security via AES encryption to the mobile BI experience on iPhone and iPad, and lets administrators control confidential apps. Ball said he hopes the BI platform will aid store managers in predicting weather, keeping abreast of local events, street closures, and other scenarios that impact supply chain.

"If it's going to be 95 degrees tomorrow, what supplies and how many employees do we need to have a good day at the store?" explains Ball.

Starbucks has used MicroStrategy product since 2005, delivering dashboards to about 40,000 store and district managers and regional directors. "We look at BI has the hub where we correlate information from many different systems. To move the analytic action to SAP or another app takes us back a step," said Ball.

Mobile iPhone

Includes all the Android features plus:

• The Coffee tab - detailed information about seasonal and traditional coffees, including where the coffee was grow
• Coffee Finder - select flavor descriptions and receive suggestions that fit your selected taste profile
• Drink Builder - create and save customized espresso beverages, send favorites to friends and family members, and get nutritional information.
• Starbucks Food Information - under the Food tab, offers detailed descriptions and ingredient and nutritional information, including calories, fat, sodium content, and cholesterol.
• Starbucks Card eGift - treat friends and family to their favorite beverage, food or merchandise with a customized personal message sent using your contacts or Facebook friend list, for any amount between $5.00- $100.00.

“Also, since you have to create an account to send it, and have an account to use it, this locks in more dedicated customers for Starbucks. The ease of using PayPal for the transaction and the ‘email the card’ makes this a brilliant mobile move for Starbucks.”

“Finding new ways to connect with our customers and elevate the experience in and out of our stores drives our continued growth in the mobile space. We’re inspired by our customers and their feedback on MyStarbucksIdea.com which led us to develop the new Starbucks for iPhone App,” said Brotman.

“Customers asked for the convenience of one app bringing together the features they love to use.”

Starbucks continues to personify a lifestyle brand as defined by technology, customer choice, and a pretty good cup of Joe.