At Rite Aid, loyalty and sales are clearly linked

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We reported on Rite Aid’s wellness+ program when it was launched last April, and we also discussed the loyalty effort as part of the larger trend linking wellness to loyalty, in our July cover story “The Wellness Prescription.”

According to Rite Aid’s CEO John Standley, in a recent conference call detailing the company’s third quarter results, wellness+ members now account for 70% of Rite Aid’s front-end sales — and member market baskets are 50% larger than their non-member counterparts.

Standley also announced that 29 million people have signed up for wellness+, and that the back-end — the pharmacy, that is — is seeing gains as well. “wellness+ members fill more scripts with us than non-members, probably due to the fact that our best customers are enrolling in the program,” said Standley. “We also see a much higher retention rate for pharmacy customers when they are enrolled.”

It seems that Rite Aid’s early efforts to balance hard and soft benefits within wellness+ are paying off, including a straight discount of 10% off Rite Aid non-pharmacy products; 24/7 toll free and online access to a pharmacist; points accrue to get both health screenings and merchandise discounts.

The question is, how will wellness+ play out in the long-term, with stiff loyalty competition with other drugstore chains such as CVS and Walgreens? It seems like finding and maintaining that tricky balance between hard and soft benefits, as well as finding other ways to stand out in the wellness pack, will be key.

Republished with author's permission from original post.

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