Walgreens: Why 2 million consumers have an SMS relationship with the leading drugstore chain

Mobile FirstLook: Strategy 2012 Jan. 19, 2012. NYC M

M

Abhi Dhar, ecommerce chief technology officer, Walgreens

Walgreens  =  Convenience  

•  7,800+  Drugstores  and  8,261  Loca7ons  

•  All  50  states,  Puerto  Rico,  and  District  of  Columbia  

•  819  Million  Prescrip7ons  Filled  in  FY2011  

•  6.1  Million  Customers  served  daily  chain  wide  

Pick Up in an Hour

Redesigned site 50+% traffic growth in 2

years Customers within a click

Closest to our Customers

7800+ locations Best corners in

America 63% of consumers live

within 3 miles

On the Go

Mobile site, iPhone and Android

Pharmacy, photo, retail 85% of consumers have

mobile phones

Unmatched  convenience  

+   +  

Mul7-­‐billion  dollar  impact  on  Walgreens  

business  

=  

Our  Mul3-­‐Channel  Network  

Almost

of  site  visitors  say  their  next  ac7on  is  to  go  to  a  store    ½  

Source:  Walgreens  Internal  Analysis  

Source:  Walgreens  Internal  Analysis  

3x More Valuable

than Single-Channel Customers

Award  Winning  Mobile  Connects  •  5  Scanning  apps  -­‐  iPhone,  Android,  iPad,  

Blackberry,  WP7  

•  4  Mobile  Websites;  Drugstore.com,  beauty.com,  visiondirect.com,  walgreens.com  

•  Best  Integrated  Mobile  Experience  -­‐People’s  Choice  Webby  Award    

•  More  than  40%  of  Walgreens  online  prescrip3ons  come  from  mobile  scanning  

•  Comprehensive  SMS  Programs  

         Order  online,  pick-­‐up  in  store  

98% 97%

Customers  come  to  our  stores  

Pre-­‐Register  for  Flu  Shots  

Prescrip7on  Text  Alerts  

Alert:  Over  3  Million  Subscribers  to  Prescrip7on  Text  Alerts  

Mobile  Makes  Visits  Convenient  

•  Text  messaging  turned  19  years  old  on  December  2,  2011.  •  The  1st  Text  Message  was  “Merry  Christmas”      

Tex3ng  is  almost  20!  

9 http://www.tatango.com/blog/text-messaging-turns-19-timeline/

http://www.tatango.com/blog/text-messaging-turns-19-timeline/

People  opt  in  to  SMS  Campaigns.  

Mobile  customers  want  to  act  now  

Copyright 2011 Walgreen Co. 11

It  takes  48  hours  for  the  average    person  to  respond  to  an  email.    

It  takes  4  minutes  for  the  average    person  to  respond  to  a  text  message  

Source: CTIA.org

Online  Head  and  Mobile  Shoulders  

Source: Internal Walgreens data

Earlier peak

Later peak

Problem:  Go  to  Walgreens  to  pick  up  your  Rx  but  it  is  not  ready.

SMS  Solu3on:  We’ll  text  you  when  it’s  ready.  

Problem:  Calling  the  store  being  put  on  hold  to  verify  your  Rx  is  ready.  SMS  Solu3on:  We’ll  text  you  when  it’s  ready.  

Problem:  It’s  3me  to  refill  you  prescrip3on.  SMS  Solu3on:  Don’t  dial  in.    Respond  yes  to  a  text.  

Problem:  Is  my  web  pickup  order  ready?    SMS  Solu3on:  We’ll  text  it’s  available  to  pickup.  

How  can  we  be  more  convenient?  

Rx Refill Text Alerts

We’ll remind you when it’s time to refill, and with

a simple SMS reply we can refill it too.

Rx Ready Text Alerts

We’ll let you know when your prescriptions are

ready for pick up.

Walgreens  Pharmacy  SMS  Programs  

Special Offers

We’ll alert you special sales and offer events.

Mobile Coupon Text Alerts

We’ll alert you to new exclusive offers within

our mobile app.

Increases App Usage too!

Walgreens  Daily  Living  SMS  Programs  

Walgreens  Daily  Living  SMS  Programs.  

•  What  is  Web  Pickup,  and  how  does  it  use  SMS?  

•  Web  Pickup  is  a  new  service  that  enables  customers  to  shop  their  local  store  online  whenever  and  where  ever  they  want.  

•  SMS  Solu3on:  We’ll  text  you  when  it’s  ready  

Sign Up in Store

Sign-up at m.walgreens.com

Sign-up at Walgreens.com

How  do  we  grow  our  SMS  lists?  

10% increase!

Old Message:

Walgreens Rx Alerts: Reply YES now for texts when Rx is ready and other pharmacy related alerts.

New Message:

Reply YES now to confirm Walgreens prescription text alerts

Sign-­‐up  messaging  is  important  

Simple  Messages    Work  Well  

Complex  Messages  Don’t  work  as  well  

The  paradox  of  simplicity:  Simple  is  convenient  (for  consumers)  

Simple  is  hard  (for  providers)  

1  email  =  +18%  daily  Rx  SMS  opt-­‐ins  

Efforts  Pay  Off  

Millions  of  applica7on  downloads  

Highly  Successful  SMS  program  

4.5  stars  in  the  iTunes  store  

>40%  of  Walgreens  online  Rx  from  mobile  

In  conclusion  

1.  Mul3-­‐channel  thinking  makes  retail  interac3on  more  convenient    

2.  Mobile  connects  mul3ple  channels  to  moment  of  need  3.  Mobile  behavior  and  expecta3on  is  different  but  the  

needs  are  the  same  4.  Develop  mobile  programs  around  those  needs.  SMS  is  

integral  to  the  mobile  program    5.  All  channels  should  feed  each  other.  SMS  grows  apps,  

web  grows  mobile,  stores  grow  SMS.  Customer  is  blind  to  channels  and  aligned  to  the  retail  brand.

Thank  You  

Ques-ons?