Dive Brief:

• H-E-B has added the ability for adult customers to manage pharmacy profiles for multiple minors and pets through its mobile app, according to a Monday post on the Texas grocery chain’s careers website.
• The retailer said it plans to later make it possible for shoppers to also administer pharmacy details for more than one adult through its app, but did not provide a timeframe for when it expects to introduce that capability.
• The upgrade reflects a broader drive by H-E-B to bolster its in-house technical capabilities as it looks to strengthen its digital presence.

Dive Insight:

While the new capability might be just an incremental upgrade, the addition of the feature is a clear indication that the grocery chain wants shoppers — and job-seekers — to perceive it as technologically savvy.

H-E-B’s addition of the ability for users to manage prescriptions for family members and pets follows the company’s consolidation of its pharmacy and grocery apps and websites into an integrated digital platform. The grocer announced that change earlier this year, describing it as a way for people to refill prescriptions and place grocery orders for delivery or pickup using the same online tool.

“As we move ever steadily into the Health and Wellness space with our Primary Care clinics and Nutrition Services, we’re focused on improving our digital Pharmacy experience and iterating on our My H-E-B app and website to elevate the products and resources our customers need to stay well and take care of their families,” H-E-B said in announcing the app and website consolidation project.

“This integration is another way we’re working to mimic the in-store shopping experience our customers love and amplify it in the digital space,” the grocer added.

In May, H-E-B announced that it had developed a health and wellness platform that brings together medical and pharmacy services, nutrition counseling and product merchandising. H-E-B also said at the time that it was opening a new primary care clinic in Austin, Texas, that is part of the grocery chain’s growing fleet of healthcare facilities in the state.

The company noted in the post about the ability for shoppers to manage multiple pharmacy profiles in its app that the improvement was the work of its Wellness Engineering team. H-E-B included a link to a dedicated digital careers page featuring nearly 50 positions, including a listing for a data engineer who will be expected to focus on health, pharmacy and nutritional data systems.