Starbucks Card Payments Drop by 13.1 Billion Won in a Month Amid "Tank Day" Controversy

Weekly Payments Decline for Two Consecutive Weeks
Starbucks Tops KakaoTalk Gift Shop Sales

The credit and debit card payments at Starbucks Korea decreased by more than 10 billion won in just one month.

According to Mobile Index, a data platform operated by AI tech company IGAWorks, Starbucks Korea's estimated credit and debit card transactions in May amounted to 121.19 billion won. This represents a drop of approximately 13.13 billion won compared to the previous month (134.32 billion won).

On May 18, which marks the anniversary of the 5·18 Democratization Movement, Starbucks Korea held a tumbler discount promotion and used terms such as "Tank Day," sparking controversy.

Looking at the weekly payment trends, during May 11-17, the payment amount stood at 32.16 billion won, but it dropped to 23.69 billion won during the week of May 18-24, when the controversy erupted. The figure further declined to 21.46 billion won during the week of May 25-31, marking a decrease for two consecutive weeks. However, these figures are based solely on estimated domestic credit and debit card transactions, excluding cash, gift certificates, bank transfers, simple payments, and in-app payments.

In contrast, demand for gifts remains strong. According to KakaoTalk Gift Shop, as of 3 p.m. on this day, the Starbucks "e-Card 50,000 won voucher" ranked first in sales within the cafe category.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.