What is Veterans Online Shopping Benefit and What Does it Mean to the Exchange?
The new Veterans online shopping benefit allows honorably discharged Veterans, regardless of how long they served in the armed forces, to shop on the Exchange’s website, www.shopmyexchange.com, and websites of our sister exchanges. This new policy, which the Pentagon approved in January, is expected to bring about 13 million Veterans back home to the Exchange family, starting this Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
Allowing online shopping is a small token of appreciation for Veterans who served honorably, but weren’t eligible to shop at the Exchange after they left service. Today, 88 percent of Veterans receive no Exchange shopping privilege because the benefit was limited to former service members with at least 20 years of service or those who were 100-percent disabled. The number of Veterans excluded is even higher for younger former service members, many of whom served multiple tours to combat zones and were discharged, often involuntarily, before meeting the 20-year criteria for retiree status.
Adding so many more e-commerce customers means the Exchange acquires more purchasing power through better pricing and product assortment, thus improving the shopping experience for all customers, whether they shop online or in traditional Exchanges.
The Veterans online shopping benefit will generate $8 million annually upon program maturation within three years. These added dividends would go to military Quality-of-Life programs, such as Army child development centers, Air Force outdoor recreation and affordable school lunches overseas. Without this additional funding, these programs could likely suffer significant financial hardships because of the continual drawdown of troops.
Updates will be included in the Exchange Post and on store billboards each month:
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