7 Brew's launch of its first mobile app this week places the rapidly growing drive-through beverage chain squarely within a strategy pioneered and refined by Starbucks, the coffee giant whose app has become a central pillar of its business, driving billions of dollars in sales through personalized ordering, loyalty rewards and customer data collection.

7 Brew's app, which became available Wednesday, gives customers order-ahead functionality, full menu customization, and access to the chain's previously unpublished "secret menu" of more than 20,000 possible drink combinations. Those features closely mirror the tools Starbucks has used for years to drive engagement, tools that have become a case study across the restaurant and beverage industry for how a well-executed app can reshape customer behavior.

Starbucks Chief Executive Brian Niccol has spoken extensively about the central role the company's app and loyalty program play in its broader turnaround strategy. Speaking during the company's third-quarter earnings call, Niccol outlined ambitious goals for rebuilding the brand's customer service reputation, saying the company is "reclaiming it, one customer, one cup, one coffee house at a time," as it works toward what he described as becoming "the world's greatest customer........

© International Business Times