Customers at some CFS stores no longer have to press a button and wait until a servant unlock one of those glass cabinets to get the products they want to buy. With a new app they can open the cupboards themselves, the company said Tuesday.
That characteristic of the new CVS Health app is available in three stores in New York City as part of a pilot program that started in August, said Tara Burke, a spokeswoman for CVS Health. She said there are plans to roll out the “smart locks” in around 10 stores on the west coast at the beginning of this year.
The announcement seemed to be part of a recognition by CFS and other drugstore chains that placing the inventory under lock and the key to scare off the theft of the retail trade, has irritated customers who have the fence to wait for help.
The CFS pilot program “is an example of how we apply technology as possible solutions to a common complaint from customers,” said Mrs. Burke. “Customers love the ease of being able to open the cases and do not have to wait for a CFS colleague to help if someone is not immediately available.”
Tim Wentworth, The Chief Executive of Walgreens Boots Alliance, which Operates Walgreens and Duane Reade Stores in the United States, Said in An Earnings Call with Investors on Jan. 10 That efforts to combat “Shrink” – Inventory that was bought but cannot be sold, mainly because of shoplifting – “has an influence on how the sale works through the store, because when you lock things up, you don't sell much of them, for example.”
Mrs Burke said in an e -mail that CFS “used different measures to scare or prevent theft, and locking a product is a measure of the last resort.”
Slow growth and shifts in consumer behavior, including online shopping and reduced foot traffic in stores, have led to CVs, Walgreens and other points of sale adapting, including by expanding the brands they wear, take anti-theft measures and worry about the personnel level And tackling concern about personnel levels and safety.
CVS said on its website that the new app would act as a digital landing place for personal health care, with functions that include organizing medical agreements and vaccinations, pay for fillings for recipe with a bar code and the search for products using an artificial intelligence Driven function.
The release function of the app is available for registered loyalty members. They must be registered with the app and on the WiFi network of the store with Bluetooth enabled to access the secure merchandise.
CVS has a broad influence in the health care system in the United States. It has around 300,000 employees, more than 9,000 stores and thousands of doctors, pharmacists and nurses in the staff. Aetna, his low -insurance, who acquired it in 2018, has nearly 40 million policyholders and other customers.
Brittain Ladd, a strategy and supply chain consultant, said that offering the wide umbrella of functions included with the new CFS app is a direction that other pharmacies, service companies and retailers have included.
“It will really be a pharmacist in your pocket,” said Mr. Ladd.
The improvements of the app mean an attempt to tackle customers complaints, such as long waiting times and the inability to get a product from a shelf, but they can also change the customer experience, he said. CVS and Walgreens “have become really wild in terms of placing Plexiglas everywhere in their stores,” he said. “When you lock up your products, lock your customers.”
Brick-and-Mortar stores, which are also confronted with competition from online pharmacies and retailers such as Amazon, have been aware for years that they have to come up with ways to let customers get through their doors.
“We know that locking products can be awkward,” said Mrs. Burke. “But it is important that we ensure that products are in stock and are available to customers they need.”
Tilak Mandadi, executive vice -president of Ventures at CVS Health and his most important digital, data, analyzes and technology officer, said on Tuesday in the statement that the new app will make it easier for our customers to gain access to and their health and care to manage. “
Mrs Burke said that New York was selected as a location for the pilot program because of the proximity of the teams that tested the locks in business in the city. So far she said, the feedback from customers was positive.
