06/26/2011
Walgreens Expands Same-Day Web Pickup to 300 Chicago Stores
Walgreens has entered its first major market with its Web Pickup service, which allows customers to order products online and pick them up in-store in as little as an hour. The service is currently available in 300 Chicago-area stores, with plans to expand to all 480 stores in the market by August. The service has previously been available at 27 stores in San Jose, CA.
Shoppers provide payment for their order online and can receive either a text message or an e-mail notification when their order is ready. Orders can be picked up at the photo counter, but in the coming months select Chicago-area stores will offer curbside delivery for orders of $20 or more, with designated parking spots for Web Pickup customers.
"To shop anywhere, any time and be able to pick up in as little as an hour is a great convenience, especially for busy moms, those who might have kids in the car, our mobility-challenged customers and many others," said Walgreens president of e-commerce Sona Chawla in a statement. "Traffic to Walgreens.com has grown 50% over the last two years, so we know that more and more customers enjoy the convenience and intuitiveness of our website as well as the wide product selection."
Earlier this month, Chawla provided an update on other cross-channel initiatives. She noted that Walgreens' multi-channel customers are three times more valuable to the retailer than single-channel customers, and that 42% of the company's product assortment is exclusive to its website, according to published reports.
In addition, 25% of Walgreens' online prescription orders now come from the retailer's mobile website and apps, and the retailer's prescription text alerts have also proven to be popular: more than 2 million consumers have signed up to receive them since the service was introduced in March 2010. This program's growth has been accelerating; the subscriber base had just topped one million in March of this year.
For related content see: Walgreens Mobile Rx Text Alerts Tops 1M Subscribers
Shoppers provide payment for their order online and can receive either a text message or an e-mail notification when their order is ready. Orders can be picked up at the photo counter, but in the coming months select Chicago-area stores will offer curbside delivery for orders of $20 or more, with designated parking spots for Web Pickup customers.
"To shop anywhere, any time and be able to pick up in as little as an hour is a great convenience, especially for busy moms, those who might have kids in the car, our mobility-challenged customers and many others," said Walgreens president of e-commerce Sona Chawla in a statement. "Traffic to Walgreens.com has grown 50% over the last two years, so we know that more and more customers enjoy the convenience and intuitiveness of our website as well as the wide product selection."
Earlier this month, Chawla provided an update on other cross-channel initiatives. She noted that Walgreens' multi-channel customers are three times more valuable to the retailer than single-channel customers, and that 42% of the company's product assortment is exclusive to its website, according to published reports.
In addition, 25% of Walgreens' online prescription orders now come from the retailer's mobile website and apps, and the retailer's prescription text alerts have also proven to be popular: more than 2 million consumers have signed up to receive them since the service was introduced in March 2010. This program's growth has been accelerating; the subscriber base had just topped one million in March of this year.
For related content see: Walgreens Mobile Rx Text Alerts Tops 1M Subscribers