Lexie Lumen Hearing Aids to be Available in Select Walgreen Stores
Lexie Hearing announced today that they were expanding their partnership with Walgreens in the US. It means that Lexie Lumen hearing aids will now be available for purchase in-store as well as on walgreens.com and Walgreens Find Care. The hearing aids will be available for sale in hundreds of Walgreens stores in Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The partnership makes sense for both parties, for Lexie, it means wider exposure and availability across a swathe of US States. For Walgreens, it means hearing aid sales that they don't have to worry about supporting. Here is what you need to know.
We spoke about Lexie here a while ago, they sent me a set of hearing aids so that I could test both them and their customer journey. The aids are decent enough for the price and the customer experience is amazing. Lexie has gamified wearing hearing aids, and in doing so, has provided strong onboarding, excellent education and a strong customer experience. Their support infrastructure is also outstanding.
Strong Customer Experience & Support
All of these things make them an attractive partner for any retailer. Retailers are interested in selling products with the least hassle possible. Hearing aids, especially this type of direct to consumer hearing aid, can be a lot of hassle for a retailer. With Lexie's strong customer experience and support infrastructure, all Walgreens will have to do is sell them and possibly handle some returns.
Initially, the aids will be available in just a few states, but when the OTC regulation finally becomes outlined and active, I think you can expect them to be available across the US. I think this move, aligned with the announcement from Bose yesterday signals the wider availability of cheaper direct to consumer hearing aids in the US.
Streaming Audio
While both the Lexie Lumen and the Bose SoundControl are similar in concept, Lexie offers a telecoil on their aids which means that there are audio streaming possibilities. I was surprised that Bose didn't offer any chance to stream audio with their devices. Particularly because audio streaming and connectivity seem to have really captured the attention of the buying public.
I think the reason that Lexie Hearing went with telecoil equipped is probably because of their strong audiological background. HearX, the people behind Lexie have a legacy of audiological innovation and their stated aim is to make hearing care available to pretty much everyone, everywhere.
A Good Thing
I have said it before, and I will no doubt say it again, I think concepts like Lexie Hearing are only a good thing for people with hearing loss. Lexie, in particular, opens up accessibility to cheaper solutions in quite a safe way. That I like very much. Still think you should get your ass to see a professional though, at least before you push the button.
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