BY DAVID SALAZAR
WAGE S R IS E , B UT BENEFITS, FLEXIBILITY AND SENSE OF PU RPO S E S E E N A S KEYS TO ATTRACTING TODAY’S WORKERS B Y
M A R K
H A M S T R A
WALGREENS SEIZES ITS OMNICHANNEL OPPORTUNITY
With strengthened digital capabilities, a loyalty program built for personalization and a focus on customer-driven assortment, Walgreens is DSN’s 2021 Retailer of the Year Put the customer first and the rest will follow.
That principle has guided Walgreens as it revamped its retail offering over the past 18 months. Certainly, industrywide, the big story of 2020 and 2021 has been pharmacies’ ability to scale up COVID-19 testing until late 2020, when they began administering millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses. At Walgreens, the company is not satisfied to just be helping lead the charge of immunization. It has, over the last year and a half, transformed its retail offering to include a host of capabilities and initiatives that are positioning the company for the future. In the early days of the pandemic, while stocking necessary personal protective equipment and rolling out same-day delivery through Postmates (and subsequently growing its stable of thirdparty delivery partners), Walgreens debuted drive-thru, curbside
38
Walgreens by the Numbers 9,021 stores (as of Aug. 31, 2020) 75 million myWalgreens members 65 million mobile app downloads 10 million pickup, delivery and same-day delivery orders from its own assets
October 2021 DRUGSTORENEWS.COM
038-048_DSN_CoverStory_1021_v1_NM_DS_MM.indd 38
10/8/21 10:33 AM
