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For many CVS customers, making a quick stop to grab a bottle of seasonal allergy meds or razor blades has been anything but quick. That’s because the pharmacy chain has kept many of the most-wanted products it sells locked behind plastic cases, necessitating the need to ring for a store associate and wait until they come and unlock your goods.
While it’s been annoying and frustrating for customers, its purpose is to fight “shrink” (shoplifting), the company and other major pharmacy chains who have utilized the tactic realize that it is also negatively affecting sales. Speaking to The New York Times, supply chain consultant Brittain Ladd, put it simply: “When you lock up your products you lock out your customers.”
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So CVS is expanding a pilot program to ease the pain point of purchasing over-the-counter medicine: a new function of their CVS Health app that lets customers unlock the shelves themselves.
CVS Health spokeswoman Tara Burke said that this functionality of their CVS Health app has been tested successfully in a pilot program at three stores in New York City, and will roll out to 10 stores on the West Coast this year.
“Customers like the convenience of being able to open the cases and not having to wait for a CVS colleague to help if one isn’t immediately available,” Burke said.
The function will be available to registered loyalty members, reports The Times, and users “must be logged in to the app and on the store’s Wi-Fi network with Bluetooth enabled to gain access to the secured merchandise.”
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