Starbucks uses the web 2.0 technologies to improve its service

I went onto the website of Starbucks today, and I found on the right hand side of the site a little icon: "got an idea?". You then land onto a new page where starbucks ask you to help shape the future of the company with your ideas. Who knows better the problems of Starbucks than its customers?

Post your Starbucks Idea—from ways we could improve to things we’ve never even thought of.	Check out other people’s ideas and vote on the ones you like best. The community votes. The community decides.	Talk about ideas with other customers and our Starbucks Idea Partners and help make them even better.	This is the proof. See which of your ideas were the most popular and watch as we take action.

It is actually a sort of blog where you can vote for the best ideas (articles), and discuss them by leaving comments.

Indeed, Starbucks is willing to leverage as much as it can its customers' knowledge of the brand in order to adjust their service. This is typically a web 2.0 oriented strategy. It uses the Internet technologies (most of them inspired by blogging) to converse with the customers, and get the best of the ideas to implement them.

You can:

• Submit an idea
• Vote for the ideas
• Discuss about the idea
  

Also, what I like is that in order to avoid becoming a reclamation platform, this site focuses on ideas to improve the system. The only thing I would like to know is what kind of structure they set in order to use all the feedback to turn these ideas in actual services.

What do you think about it?  Do you think your company should have the same tool? Do you think this will become the standard in the next few years?

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