CVS Wants Your Phone To Unlock Store Cabinets In Controversial Test

Smartphones are enormously adaptable devices, but their flexibility can also be a bit of a double-edged sword. For as great as it can be when using your smartphone solves a problem, like letting you pay for a snack without needing your wallet on you, there’s a flip side to progress where we’re now expected to use our phone for things that didn’t require it before — is anyone actually a fan of having to scan QR codes just to see the menu at restaurants? Today we’re hearing about the next little corner of our lives where we may have to start using our phones in a new way, as CVS starts a controversial test in some of its stores.

CVS has undertaken a big renovation of its mobile app, reports The Wall Street Journal, intended to help streamline the in-store experience for shoppers. Changes include new tools for checking prescription costs and tracking medications, and a new barcode system for prescription pickup and payment. And while there’s a lot that’s been updated and improved, there’s one change that you’re either going to absolutely love, or feel borderline offended that it even exists.

Retail theft is an ongoing problem, and retailers have adopted all manner of approaches towards mitigating its impact. Drug stores are particularly vulnerable, due to their focus on relatively small yet still high-value commodities. In order to discourage thieves from just grabbing a whole display’s worth of merchandise and running, for years now stores have implemented ways to limit physical access, whether that’s a system of sliding baffles, knobs shoppers have to turn to release products, or just full-on locked display cases requiring employee assistance.

With this app update, CVS is testing a system where you can unlock these sort of cabinets using your phone. In order to do so, you’ll need the CVS app, obviously, and you’ll have to register a CVS account and be logged in. Your phone will also need to be actively connected to the store’s own Wi-Fi, as well as have Bluetooth enabled, but check all those boxes and you’ll be well on your way to completing your shopping trip without needing to flag down an employee for help.

Initially, CVS says it’s trying this pilot out in just three of its stores, but the company seems eager to expand if things go well. On one hand, we can see how a feature like this could absolutely speed up someone’s visit to the drug store, grabbing what they need without having to wait for assistance. But does it also perpetuate a culture where shoppers are treated adversarially? Should you need to be logged in and sharing all your shopping habits with CVS just to be able to put an item in your basket?

We’ll be very curious to see how actual shoppers end up reacting to this experiment, and learn whether or not CVS ends up deploying it nationwide. Would you be a fan of such a move, or does this just sound like your latest dose of dystopia? Let us know in the comments.

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