CVS adds an easy refill option to its apps

Customers of CVS/pharmacy who own a smartphone no longer have to traipse to the druggist to refill their prescriptions. CVS recently updated its iPhone and Android apps so that simply holding the smartphone’s camera above the bar code on the prescription bottle will send the refill notification to the user’s preferred CVS store.

CVS also updated its mobile commerce site, enabling consumers to manage their ExtraCare Reward accounts, a feature also included in the revised apps. Consumers can view their available loyalty points balance and ExtraCare eligible transaction history, and load ExtraCare coupons they receive via CVS emails. Users redeem the coupons in stores by tapping their ExtraCare cards against a scanner on the point of sale terminal. The card numbers are linked to their CVS accounts.

The updated m-commerce site, created by mobile technology vendor Usablenet Inc., also enables consumers to view their photo albums and to orders prints to pick up in stores.

The iPhone and Android apps also include a bar code scanner function, which uses a smartphone’s built-in camera, to scan product codes to get additional information. The apps also enable users to locate a nearby CVS store by using the smartphone’s global positioning system technology.

“Our iPhone and Android apps, as well as our mobile sites, are increasingly popular among our customers,” a CVS spokesman says. “These latest mobile enhancements make it easier for those ExtraCare cardholders using smartphones to access and manage their accounts while on the go.”