Inside the 74 Million Member CVS Digital Loyalty Program

Need to Know

• ExtraCare, the pharmacy chain’s loyalty program, counts social media and mobile interaction as keys to its success.
• CVS data shows that ExtraCare members who use the company’s app save six times more than those who don’t.
• The program offers rewards, exclusive deals, and personalized savings that are based on browsing and purchasing history.

Analysis

CVS has seen substantial success with its loyalty program, thanks largely to a user-friendly mobile app offering personalized rewards and an easy-to-navigate user interface.

ExtraCare now counts more than 74 million members. In 2019, CVS rolled out CarePass, which offers benefits such as free same-day prescription delivery and a 24-hour helpline, for $48 a year. Combined, these two programs offer not only delivery and support benefits, but also exclusive sales and promotions based on a customer’s past browsing and purchasing habits — a tool that CVS says has been key to ExtraCare’s success.

“That’s really one of the best parts of being an ExtraCare member,” Michele Driscoll, vice-president of customer engagement, loyalty, personalization and promotions of CVS Health, said in a statement. “It’s important to us to deliver personalized value depending on what you buy, where you live, who you are – you never know what you’re going to get or when you’re going to get it.”

The CVS app has recently added a Rewards Tracker, which allows ExtraCare members to see their progress toward earned rewards from the ExtraCare, ExtraCare BeautyClub, and ExtraCare Pharmacy & Health Rewards programs, in addition to the $10 monthly reward they receive if they’re subscribed to CarePass, all in one digital space.

The CVS app also shows customers how much they’re saving over time — with CVS app-users saving up to six times as much as non-app users. In addition, coupons sent to users’ ExtraCare cards from the app have more than doubled in the past year, while ExtraCare texts have grown by more than 45%, as personalized, SMS advertising has been shown to foster much higher customer engagement than email.

Digital couponing, meanwhile, has proven to be a huge — and somewhat viral — success for CVS, as social media users with ExtraCare memberships have taken to their feeds to demonstrate how to combine their digital receipts, coupons, and ExtraBucks to score huge savings.

The CVS mobile app also hosts a weekly circular, in a digital format, and offers users the ability to scan for deals on products they love. Driscoll said that, in the future, CVS will be working on integrations with companies such as Instacart to expand the reach of their loyalty program.

CVS first outlined its robust digital strategy in early 2020, leading with a focus on AI and customer engagement. The pharmacy chain launched a number of innovative digital initiatives in 2020, including drone prescription delivery and QR code-enabled payments, in partnership with Venmo and PayPal.