ExtraCare is the largest retail loyalty program in the world, with more than 50 million members. In 2007, cardholders received more than $1.5 Billion in savings and rewards. The CVS/pharmacy ExtraCare card program was created to reward loyal customers with discounts and informational mailings relevant to their personalized needs. The program pays back customers 2% on purchases, called ExtraBucks, and rewards customers with $1.00 to spend on front store merchandise for every two prescriptions purchased.
Originally launched in 2001, the CVS ExtraCare card program has attracted more than 50 million cardholders and continues to grow. The ExtraCare program was created to reward loyal customers with discounts and informational mailings relevant to their needs. It also helps CVS respond to what its customers really want, based on information collected from card sales.
* Extra Bucks® - The ExtraCare program pays back customers 2% on purchases in the form of a coupon printed at the bottom of the store receipt. It also rewards customers with $1.00 to spend on front store merchandise for every two prescriptions purchased.
CVS stands alone in its commitment to being the easiest pharmacy for customers to use, always making patron needs the top priority. Washington Post health writer, Francesca Lunzer Kritz, urges consumers to "Get bucks back from your pharmacy," and cites CVS's ExtraCare program as a model for how loyalty programs should reward their customers.*
A. Data collected from card sales is used strictly to help us better understand and serve our customers. Information about CVS customers is never released to any outside company. CVS is so thoroughly committed to honoring ExtraCare cardholders' privacy that the subscription form offers a place for customers to Opt-In for mailings.
A. For anyone wishing to join as an anonymous cardholder, she can apply for the ExtraCare program without filling a name or address. All the same card benefits apply, but she won't receive any mailings.
Q. How does CVS benefit from such a program?
A. The ExtraCare program operates as an extra layer to our mass marketing efforts. It allows us to target customers with offers that print at the register and in direct mailings according to what they really buy and need regularly. Card sales provide us with another body of information that helps us provide better services and products, customize our promotional plans, and generally be a better pharmacy retailer for our customers.
*Excludes pharmacy items paid for in whole or in part by state and/or federal healthcare programs and prescriptions purchased in N.J. and N.Y. Also excludes controlled substances purchased in Louisiana.