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The company said the unlocking function, part of a pilot program in New York City, will be expanded this year.
Jan. 28, 2025, 6:03 p.m. ET
Customers at some CVS stores will no longer have to push a button and wait for a clerk to unlock one of those glass cabinets to get the products they want to buy. A new app will allow them to open the cabinets themselves, the company said on Tuesday.
That feature of the new CVS Health app has been available in three stores in New York City as part of a pilot program that began in August, said Tara Burke, a CVS Health spokeswoman. She said there are plans to roll out the “smart locks” at approximately 10 stores on the West Coast early this year.
The announcement appeared to be part of an acknowledgment by CVS and other drugstore chains that placing inventory under lock and key to deter retail theft has irked customers, who resent having to wait for assistance.
The CVS pilot program “is an example of how we’re applying technology as possible solutions to a common customer complaint,” Ms. Burke said. “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.”
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, primarily because of shoplifting — “does impact how sales work through the store because when you lock things up, for example, you don’t sell as many of them.”
Ms. Burke said in an email that CVS used “a variety of different measures to deter or prevent theft, and locking a product is a measure of last resort.”
