CVS

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy is using flu shots to support the USO in recognition of Veterans Day.

CVS/pharmacy said Wednesday that it would donate $3 to the USO during the week of the holiday, between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, pledging a minimum donation of $50,000, and up to $100,000. The company said the idea was to remind Americans that a flu shot is the best way to protect against flu.

The battle to capture and retain customers in a world where price, convenience and even customer service have become commoditized is in full swing. “The risk is you end up in a loyalty war [where] companies begin to use the loyalty scheme or the loyalty component of [the card] as another form of price escalation,” warned Bryon Pearson, president of LoyaltyOne and contributing editor to Colloquy, a magazine that has covered the loyalty marketing industry since 1990. “The intelligence that sits behind these programs is where the real value is,” he said.



Target and CVS are some of the first retailers to group adult multivitamins and supplements available in gummy format into one 4-ft. set. The idea is to make shopping vitamins and supplements easier. For the 12 weeks ended Sept. 9, SymphonyIRI Group tabulated $202 million in sales of multivitamins, up slightly by 0.8%, across food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart).

Improving medication adherence in specialty pharmacy could be equivalent to introducing a new blockbuster drug. That’s how Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy president and CEO Phil Hagerman put it at Drug Store News’ Specialty Pharmacy Roundtable two years ago. 


CVS/pharmacy certainly is the leader in terms of how to translate reams of shopper data into programs that drive profitable results. It’s been at it for almost 15 years, and its 70 million active cardholders makes for the largest loyalty program in retail pharmacy.

In a major nod to the program’s success, 67% of CVS transactions and 82% of all front-store sales are tied to ExtraCare, and card members buy 85% more items per trip versus nonmembers.

NEW YORK — The Northeast is still recovering from one of the worst disasters it has ever faced. Many residents remain without electrical power, while others have lost their entire homes, businesses, workplaces and in a growing number of cases, their lives.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy has announced that it is partnering with the American Diabetes Association as the sponsor of "A Day in the Life of Diabetes" campaign — a photo-sharing campaign on the ADA's main Facebook page.

The CVS/pharmacy ExtraCare Advantage for Diabetes program will donate $1 to the American Diabetes Association for every photo or image uploaded, up to $25,000. CVS/pharmacy will also co-host a Twitter chat on Nov. 15 with Dr. Elizabeth Seaquist, VP medicine and science for the ADA.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark announced on Wednesday a donation of more than $100,000 to the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund to provide support to communities that have been affected by Hurricane Sandy.
 
A donation of $50,000 was made from the company's foundation, the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust. In addition, CVS/pharmacy is providing snacks and bottled water valued at more than $50,000 to distribute in communities in New Jersey that were impacted by the hurricane.