CVS Introduces a Clever New Way to Shop With Your iPhone
Credit: Marques Thomas
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The well-known US pharmacy chain CVS is embracing the iPhone in a whole new way, with a redesigned app that aims to help customers get in and out of their stores more quickly and with less frustration.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, CVS Health has released a significant update to its iPhone app that can do everything from helping pharmacists look up your prescription to automatically unlocking cabinets in stores without the need to summon an employee.
The prescription features are rolling out for all CVS locations and will allow customers to store details for their medications in the app, which can then present a barcode that will help the pharmacist quickly fill the prescription and even handle the payment directly in the app. Customers will also be able to view the status of their prescriptions, such as the number of refills available and the costs involved. This latter part is rolling out to users who are eligible members of Aetna and Caremark, although the pharmacy chain is working to extend this to other insurers.
CVS hopes the prescription feature will reduce the time customers spend at the counter, according to Tilak Mandadi, executive vice president of ventures at CVS Health. Mandadi told the WSJ that he believes the ability to quickly scan a single barcode for both prescription lookup and payment will help expedite things. “The time spent at the counter on payment is a fair percentage of the overarching time spent for people in the pharmacy,” he said.
As helpful as this is for customers, the real benefit is also to CVS since Mandadi hopes it will provide a better customer experience, encouraging more folks to shop at CVS. On the flip side, faster service means fewer employees will be needed to serve customers’ needs.
This is also where the second — and arguably the more interesting — aspect of the new app comes into play. Like many drug stores, CVS uses locked cabinets for attractive items that are often shoplifted and certain over-the-counter medications that may need to be more closely monitored. These are annoying obstacles for customers who have to summon an employee to retrieve an item they wish to examine or purchase.
People really, really dislike locked cabinets.
Tilak Mandadi, executive vice president of ventures at CVS Health
However, CVS has a novel way of addressing this: let validated customers unlock cabinets using their iPhones.
The program is only being trialed at three CVS stores for now, although Mandadi says the next step will be to expand it to 10–15 locations before going to full-scale deployment. However, he didn’t share which locations it’s available at or specify a timeframe for the rollout.
The cabinet-unlock feature doesn’t use any special Apple Wallet or NFC features. Instead, it appears to work over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Users need to be logged in and connected to the in-store Wi-Fi network. This could present a minor obstacle for infrequent visitors to a given location; however, it’s also restricted to loyalty program members, as CVS doesn’t want to give the digital keys away to just anyone. The company presumably trusts its loyalty program members up to a point, although it’s also almost certainly going to be keeping records of who is unlocking its cabinets.
In addition to making things easier for customers and employees, CVS may have a secondary agenda in rolling out this new feature. While Mandadi didn’t mention this, the WSJ article cites Gartner analyst Don Scheibenreif, who believes this may also be a way to encourage more customers to download and use the app in the first place.
You’re talking about behavior change. If most people shop in-store, they have a certain way of doing it. They have to have compelling reasons for you to open [their app] and use it in the store.
Don Scheibenreif, Gartner vice president and analyst
Mandadi suggests that CVS aims to turn its new app into “the super app” for all its customers’ health needs. Additional features include providing medication tracking features and immunization bookings for family caregivers, a search feature powered by generative AI, articles from Everyday Health, and guided meditations from Headspace.
