An Exclusive Interview with Michelle LeBlanc of CVS Health
An Exclusive Interview with Michelle LeBlanc, Vice President of Merchandising for Beauty and Personal Care & Hispanic Center of Excellence, CVS Health
Michelle LeBlanc, Vice President of Merchandising for Beauty and Personal Care & Hispanic Center of Excellence, CVS Health
GL: You speak about CVS being at the nexus of Beauty, Wellness & Health, how do you envision enhancing that relationship, so it helps the guest and the vendor as well?
ML: To start, I think it’s important to acknowledge that shoppers think of beauty, wellness and health as deeply connected – they’re all part of well-being. At CVS Pharmacy we have always approached our relationship with our shoppers starting from a place of trust and community. And this lens has fueled many of the choices we made and continue to make with our customers at the center. We are truly on their health and beauty journey with them. It’s one of the main reasons I am so proud to be part of CVS Health. From our decision to stop selling tobacco to our commitment to transparency in beauty images through Beauty Unaltered, we stand by what we carry in a way no other retailer does. This deepens our relationship and our role in our shopper’s overall well-being journey. And with more than 9,000 retail locations across the U.S. we’re doing it right in their community.
Additionally, our customers are often on a mission-based shopping trip, meaning they are coming in because they need something specific (i.e., sick kids, pick up a prescription, ran out of sunscreen on way to the beach). We offer a curated assortment designed to meet our shopper’s needs. What this does is simplify the shopping experience for our customers. From the moment they walk through the doors, we help them easily find the products they need on-shelf, and leave, on average, in under 6 minutes. CVS is providing a destination that meets the vast need-states of our shoppers. And we’re doing so as a small-format retailer that is within 10 miles of 85 percent of the U.S. population.
That is why I refer to us as the nexus of beauty, health, and wellness. We offer convenience, breadth of solutions and, importantly, trust that meets shoppers’ needs in a way others cannot. By uniting our trust in health with our expertise in the evolving beauty and wellness landscape, CVS is not just a retailer. We’re a community destination for self-care, confidence, and head-to-toe well-being.
GL: You mentioned the average time of a visit to CVS and the key touch points of the guest experience, how do you see this being refined so that you optimize the experience ?
ML: Simply put, we want to meet our consumers where they are. Whether in our 9,000+ store locations, online, via rapid delivery, or through BOPIS (buy online, pick-up in store), we have built an omnichannel ecosystem to do just that.
For the purpose of today, I’ll focus on our in-store experience. We’re on a journey of simplification and personalization, ranging from the assortment we continue to curate that meets the unique needs of each community we serve, to the way those products show up on shelf, to the visual cues throughout the store that help the shopper find what they are looking for. We want our shoppers to be in and out but enjoying themselves along the way and hopefully discovering something new in the process… this mission of ours makes me smile! One example of how we accomplish this is in our CVS Y Más & Navarro store locations. We have 1,000 stores across 20 states that are specifically curated for our Hispanic customers.
We create a localized, relevant shopping experience where Hispanics feel welcome in an environment that is culturally relevant and feels more like home with products they know and love. This is a great proof point of how we think about personalization and localization, putting our customer first and their shopping experience at the center of how we are evolving.
GL: How do you see the future of guest experiences and relationships?
1) more social media engagement? 2) in store events / experiences?
ML: A fundamental of retail is that shoppers want to interact with products. They crave the ability to touch/feel and learn about products they’re interested in. Part of what I love about social media, specifically within beauty and skin, is it’s given shoppers an engaging way to be introduced to products. The impact of a before and after eye serum, for example, is incredibly powerful when you see it online. However, those interactions that start on screen often inspire shoppers to want to learn more in-person and that is where CVS stores continue to play an important role.
All that said to state: our relationship with our shoppers is one built on trust. One way that trust comes through is with our team of Beauty Consultants and our focus on education/training. Beauty Consultants can help us amplify fun trends and enhance the experience of a shopper in a fun way, but they are also our front line in beauty in sharing information with customers about new products and their benefits and usage. They help our shoppers make the best choices to meet their needs.
GL: As a guest finishes their interaction, what thoughts would you like them to leave with?
ML: As our shoppers leave, I’d want them to feel three things:
- First and foremost, across all of CVS Pharmacy, we want customers to know we are there for them in their time of need. Staying true to our shopper’s mission and ensuring we help them succeed in that mission is of the upmost importance. This is where that ease of shop, coupled with breadth yet curation of assortment is so meaningful to our shopper’s experience!
- Within beauty, I want our shoppers to feel confident, cared for, and empowered through our trusted, curated assortment, transparency in beauty standards, and unmatched access to head-to-toe solutions!
And lastly, that we surprised them with a moment of joy and discovery with our beauty and personal care assortment. Everyone’s day is a little more fun with a bright red lip oil!
