BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart plans to make the shopping experience faster and easier for its pharmacy customers with the addition of express lanes in its stores and a new feature in its mobile app.

The Walmart mobile app’s “easy refill” feature will allow patients — after a simple, one-time setup — to quickly refill prescriptions, track order status, and view pricing and pickup details via their mobile device.

Once their prescription order has been placed, patients can use new express lanes in the pharmacy area to finish the transaction in three steps: tap “prescription ready for pickup” in the app and enter a PIN or use Touch ID to activate the camera; scan the code displayed at the register; and receive the medication from the Walmart associate. The payment is processed via Walmart Pay, and an e-receipt is sent to the app and can be viewed at any time.

“What our pharmacy business is likely most well known for is our $4 prescription program that has saved our customers nearly $5 billion,” said Paul Beahm, senior vice president of Walmart health and wellness operations. “Starting today, we’ll be known for saving them more than just money. By developing and combining the best of our app with a service that our customers depend on daily, we’re driving change that makes living better easier.”

The enhanced Walmart app will also offer similar advantages for the millions of customers who transfer money in a Walmart store each month, eliminating paperwork and making the transaction faster and easier.

Customers now will be able to enter the money transfer information in the app — from home or on the go — and then head to the store. When they get there, money transfer customers will no longer have to fill out paperwork, and they can use an express lane in the money services area. (Walmart said these lanes will be available at nearly 1,200 of its Money Services locations. In stores without a Money Services desk, customers can go to the customer service desk.)

Completing a Money Services transaction also entails just three steps: tap “money ready to send” in the Walmart app and enter a PIN or use Touch ID to activate the camera; scan the code displayed at the register; and then verify the information and pay. A receipt and reference number is sent to the app and can be texted or emailed to the recipient.

“These capabilities are the latest example of how we’re bringing together all of the conveniences of Walmart — great stores, convenient pickup, easy checkout and a top-notch app — to deliver one seamless shopping experience for customers,” Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of Walmart services, said in a statement.
Plans call for the new app functionality and express lanes to begin rolling out to customers this month, with the capabilities expected to be available in almost all of Walmart’s 4,700 stores by the fall.