Customers can now use a touch-free digital checkout process at 8,200 of the store’s locations.
CVS Pharmacy, CVS Health’s retail division, announced that customers can use pharmacy QR code payments to check out touch-free using PayPal or Venmo.
The barcodes are available to be used at 8,200 of the retailer’s standalone locations across the country.
These pharmacy QR code payments make it possible for customers to shop in-store and pay for their items without having to sign a receipt or come in contact with a keypad. This allows them to use their PayPal or Venmo wallets to fund their purchases.
This move was first announced back in July. It makes CVS Pharmacy the first national retailer to bring PayPal and Venmo QR code technology into its checkout experience in all its standalone stores in the United States. The experience is already available to PayPal and Venmo customers. That said, customers who don’t have those services can sign up and connect their preferred payment method to their mobile wallets in a matter of minutes.
The pharmacy QR code payments suit the rapidly increasing trend toward touch-free transactions.
Since the start of this year, CVS has recorded a 43 percent increase in transactions using touch-screen methods. Forrester research has shown that 11 percent of the American population reported that, for the first time, they were using digital payment methods due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
New PayPal research also showed that over half – 57 percent – of surveyed customers said merchants’ digital payment offerings affected how willing they were to shop in those stores. Over one in three (34 percent) said they would not purchase from merchants that did not offer QR code enabled transactions. This underscored the requirement for a contact-free payment experience, particularly in in-store environments such as pharmacies.
“Putting our customer’s safety at the forefront of our innovations, we’ve focused resources on finding new ways to make customers’ lives easier and more convenient,” said CVS Health chief operating officer and executive vice president Jon Roberts when discussing the pharmacy QR codes. “Introducing more 
digital options, including touch-free payments at the register, is in step with changing consumer preferences.”
