Starbucks
SBUX,
on Wednesday released 5,000 nonfungible tokens, called the First Store Collection. The release comprises a series of images that look like postage stamps. The Seattle-based coffee behemoth launched them on Nifty Gateway, an online digital-art platform, minting them on the Ethereum scaling network Polygon.
The nonfungible tokens are priced at $100 each. This is around the same price as its previous NFT drop in March, which included just 2,000 NFTs and sold out within minutes.
Buying an NFT earns users 1,500 points toward rewards within the Starbucks Odyssey app, launched by Starbucks in fall 2022.
Broader interest in collecting, trading and making NFTs appears to have died down since its peak in 2021 and 2022, but big brands are still moving ahead with plans to launch them. Earlier this week, Nike
NKE,
announced its first NFT drop on .Swoosh, the brand’s so-called web3 community, which is branded as a place to co-create with fans “the future of Nike.”
One of the reasons brands are pushing forward into NFTs is that it seems to benefit bottom lines.
“Starbucks is venturing into web3 technology because they recognize its potential and are looking to tap into new user segments and revenue streams. Their first NFT drop, the Siren Collection Stamp, launched on March 1, 2023, sold out in just 18 minutes with a price of $100 each,” said Sara Gherghelas, a blockchain analyst at DappRadar.
“In the past 30 days, it has seen a trading volume of $195,000 and an overall trading volume of $561,000. The floor price for the collection is at $450, which is a 350% appreciation since the mint.”
Gherghelas said it’s noteworthy that only 17.1% of the collection is currently up for sale, indicating that holders of the tokens are not just looking to flip NFTs for a quick profit, or buying with the aim of selling at a higher price.
“Regarding the coming second drop, it is expected to have a similar impact, especially as they are also rolling out a series of benefits for beta users on April 24,” said Gherghelas.
Brands are using NFTs — collectibles and, at the same time, certificates of authenticity — as a way to build loyalty inside their fan bases.
In December, marketing chief Brady Brewer said the company was using this type of technology to reward and connect with members in new ways, including offering collectibles, digital stamps, and access to both benefits and a digital community.
The market for NFTs broadly, though, has cooled, with monthly trading volume approaching $1 billion, according to DappRadarm, far from a high of $17 billion in January 2022.
Starbucks told MarketWatch via email that it would provide data on the launch after analyzing results of the sale.
