Walgreens and FedEx Working Together to Maximize Brand Impact
There are a lot of locations in most cities and towns where people can drop off their FedEx packages for shipping, but Walgreens recently took it to the next level. Beginning this spring at the friendly photo counter of your neighborhood Walgreens you can have your e-commerce purchases shipped to them for pickup at your convenience, and you can drop packages there to be shipped. Well, at least you will be able to do so at a few of them, to begin with, with the program expanding in 2018 to nearly 8,000 of their stores. Considering Walgreens is also an internet retailer, it could boost their online sales as well.
According to a Walgreens’ spokesperson, “Our Walgreens stores will be able to accept pre-labeled and pre-packaged shipments, most likely at the existing photo department counter. A Walgreens employee will accept the package. Customers also can have a shipment delivered to the store, and then pick it up at as time that is convenient for them. The packages will be kept in a secure cabinet until the customer comes to pick it up.”
Think about how many people have had packages stolen from their doorsteps recently and it is easy to see the benefit to this service for those who are rarely home during the daytime when deliveries are often made. This is just one more way for Walgreens to offer customer service and bring more consumers into their brick and mortar locations. It is a brilliant move when so many chain stores are struggling with sales as well as with making a name for themselves online.
And for FedEx, well their chief marketing officer, Raj Subramaniam, said: “Walgreens, with its strong focus on customer care, is the perfect retailer to help us continue to meet the growing demand for convenient, secure dropoff, and pickup options, and our research has shown that customers rank pharmacies as a preferred location for accessing their e-commerce shipments.”
This long-term agreement between the two companies gives US customers thousands more options for their FedEx dealings, though neither company has confirmed just how long the contract will run.
Online stores that ship through FedEx are already starting to adjust their shipping options to include places like Walgreens for easy selection upon a purchase. Newegg.com is one of the first to add this “Ship to a FedEx Location” option. Before the deal with Walgreens, there have been approximately 2,500 FedEx locations for shipping and dropping off. This expansion moves that number up by almost 400%.
