New York City pharmacies have been prevalent sites for theft over the past few years, with burglaries increasing by 620% between 2021 and 2023, according to Pix 11.
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This inconvenience of modern drugstore shopping has the potential to change, maybe, with the CVS Health mobile app, which added a new feature last month that allows shoppers to unlock cases at three Manhattan locations, according to a New York Times article—158 Bleecker Street, 630 Lexington Avenue, and 540 Amsterdam Avenue (at 86th Street). We recently had a chance to try the app at the Upper West Side location, and it seems promising.
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So how exactly does the app work? The first step is to download it if you haven’t already. In order to use the app at the store, you will need to make sure your Bluetooth is on. Then look for the red and white sign that says “Easily unlock this case with your CVS Pharmacy app.”
Within the app, click the “Menu” button at the lower right corner of the screen and click on the option that says, “Unlock cabinet.” The app should detect your store location. Tap your phone under the knob on the case, and if all goes well, you should be prompted to click the blue “Unlock cabinet” button at the bottom of your screen. The knob will then unlock, and you can turn it to the left to open the case. When you are done, close the case, turn the knob back to the lock position, and click the blue “Done” button at the bottom of your screen on the app.
We tested the app in the family planning, baby care, facial care, and digestive health sections and were successful every time. Despite the app appearing to work well, the trend does not appear to have taken off at this location just yet. We were at the store for about an hour and, to our knowledge, we were the only ones using the app. We heard the “Customer service needed” announcement around 15 times during our visit, and sales associates were opening cases for customers of all ages. We chatted with one young man while he was waiting for an associate to open a case for him. He said that he has never used the app but would be open to doing so. That said, he said he is fine waiting for sales associates too.
Whether use of the app takes off at the Amsterdam Ave. location remains to be seen. According to the New York Times article, there has been a 17% increase in CVS Health app downloads.
CVS Corporate has not responded to our request for inquiry.
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Register with CVS and use their app to unlock the case so you can pay $20.79 for Cetaphil SPF 35 moisturizer.
The app doesn’t work on the frozen foods section. Those cases are padlocked and can only be opened with a key.
i was there sunday and the app was not working on any cases (bluetooth on – both my husband and i tried). they had 1 associate running to unlock cases constantly – this doesn’t seem like a permanent solution
The CVS app is great to manage your coupons and order refills of your prescriptions. Now it can open locked cabinets? Yooohoooo!
There are plenty of non-chain drug stores that don’t lock up the toothbrushes — so no app needed.
Great so because a bunch of blacks kept stealing now older folks who may not be tech savvy have to suffer. This neighborhood is a dumpster fire.