Starbucks’ $222 Million Gift Card Secret
Business & Marketing · English · Portrait · 1 min · whiteboard animation · by @hinasarwat
This business & marketing whiteboard animation was made with AutoScribble — the script was written, every scene hand-drawn and the narration recorded automatically in about 10 minutes. You can make one like it from a single sentence.
Transcript
Starbucks can make money from a coffee you never order. Here’s how. Imagine loading twenty pounds onto a Starbucks card. You buy one drink. The remaining balance waits for your next visit. Starbucks already has the cash. It records an obligation to serve you later. That’s a useful head start. But some balances never get used. A forgotten gift. An abandoned account. A few pounds left behind. Starbucks estimates the portion customers will never redeem and gradually counts it as revenue. The accounting term is ‘breakage’. In its 2025 financial year, that totalled over two hundred and twenty-two million US dollars. Tiny leftovers, repeated around the world, become serious money. So the next time you find an old Starbucks gift card… check the balance. Your next coffee might already be paid for. WHAT’S LEFT ON YOURS?