Starbucks is adding a venti-size dollop of free books, news and entertainment to its Internet offerings starting today.
The coffee chain's new digital network - which promises customers free e-books, movies and other exclusives, including free access to paid Web sites such as The Wall Street Journal - is meant to get customers spending more on drinks and content they buy through the site.
The move comes as Starbucks faces steep competition from McDonald's Corp. and other fast-food chains pushing increasingly fancy coffee drinks. It also offers Starbucks a chance to make money by selling songs, e-books and other material to customers who linger over its free Wi-Fi, which saw 30 million log-ins last month.
Starbucks Corp. started offering free wireless Internet access in July. The new network, a partnership with Yahoo, is the next step in its strategy.
Most of the free content, from movies to books and news, can be read or viewed only in Starbucks.
The sites were designed to remember where people leave off in a book or a movie, so picking it back up is seamless.
When customers buy content, say a newspaper subscription or an e-book, Starbucks makes money by taking a cut of the sale. The company declined to specify its share.
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