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We checked out CVS’s pilot program that lets shoppers unlock display cases with their phones

The chain declined to name the pilot stores. We found one.
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Andrew Adam Newman

4 min read

Locked-display cases, the theft-prevention measure that puts so much of retailers’ inventory behind glass that stores are beginning to resemble claw machine arcades, are not exactly crowd pleasers.

Upon discovering something that they want to purchase is locked, fewer than one in three shoppers (32%) summon an employee to unlock the case, according to a reader survey from Consumer World, a consumer advocacy website. More than half (55%) decide that instead of seeking a similar unlocked product, they’ll try to find it in another store.

But CVS is testing something that could make the locked cases less onerous, a system that enables shoppers to unlock the cases with their phones rather than having to wait for store employees.

For those about to lock: In a LinkedIn post in September, Zachary Dennett, VP of merchandising at CVS, shared a short video revealing what he called a “big milestone for convenience at CVS,” namely that “customers can now unlock products with the app!”

The video showed a locked CVS case filled with vitamins, and an iPhone with the CVS app open being used to unlock it.

Intrigued by the post, which at the time of publication had been reposted 60 times, liked 1,628 times, and drawn 158 comments, I messaged Dennett on LinkedIn and requested an interview. Dennett never responded, but a day later Amy Thibault, lead director of external communications at CVS, emailed that my inquiry had been forwarded to her and that it was “a very small pilot” about which the company was “not ready to share any information.”

Asked over email how many stores were involved in the pilot, their locations, whether a vendor was supplying this technology or the retailer had developed it internally, and why if this was under wraps a CVS executive was posting about it to LinkedIn, Thibault declined to respond to the questions but offered a statement.

“We’re always looking at ways to improve the customer experience,” Thibault wrote. “This pilot is an example of how we’re applying technology as a possible solution and we’re eager to learn more about how it works and is received.”

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Upon closer examination, in the short demo that Dennett posted to LinkedIn, when the CVS app was opened it showed the store’s street address. It was in Manhattan.

It was time to go shopping.

Case in point: The CVS store was on the same toney block on the Upper West Side as The Belnord, the building featured in Only Murders in the Building.

Inside, I made my way for the laundry detergent aisle, seeking Tide, an oft-shoplifted brand.

Signs said the cases could be unlocked with CVS app if Bluetooth and location services were turned on. As instructed, I went to the app’s menu, clicked “Unlock Products,” and held my phone to a sensor pad.

An alert sounded from the sensor, and the app confirmed that the case was unlocked. So I took the Tide and made my way to self-checkout.

I asked a couple employees about the system—just as a curious shopper, not identifying myself as a reporter—and they were both fans and said shoppers liked it, too. I asked one whether the app would now track whether I ended up purchasing the detergent and would nab me if I didn’t, but she laughed and said that was not how they were using the system.

It was a distinct improvement over my previous locked-case experiences, which often involved pushing the button for assistance, waiting, reviewing my career goals, then flagging down store associates, who often weren’t personally equipped to help but summoned someone who could.

The real beneficiaries of easier-to-unlock cases, however, may not be shoppers, but retailers.

Indyme, which developed a locked-display case that consumers can unlock with an app, loyalty card, entering a phone number, or facial recognition, does not confirm or deny whether it’s working with CVS or any retailers it partners with, citing confidentiality agreements, Hedgie Bartol, its VP of business development, told Retail Brew.

But the company’s CEO, Joe Budano, told Business Insider that, when retailers put their inventory in typical wait-for-an-associate locked cases, they typically lose 15%–25% of their sales.

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.