Tag: walgreens

Walgreens Updates Mobile App To Improve In-Store Retail Experience

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Walgreens has updated its branded mobile app to better leverage the beacons in stores to deliver a more personalized and rewarding shopping experience for customers. The drugstore chain’s updated app will now be able to send customers special deals and coupons based on their location within the bulk of its U.S. stores.

What Brands Should Do
In June Walgreens introduced two APIs, one of which enables third-party apps to access their digital coupons, signaling its intention to expand its support for digital coupons. Now with this beacon integration into its app, the drugstore chain is making coupons a lot more user-friendly and accessible. The location-based personalization will likely help Walgreens lock in shopper loyalty by providing them with a superior in-store experience. Other retailers need to take a cue and start leveraging mobile technologies to modernize their retail experiences.

For more information on how retailers can effectively reach connected consumers by taking a mobile-powered, omnichannel approach, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: GeoMarketing

Walgreens Integrates Loyalty Program Into Android Pay

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Walgreens has become the first retailer to fully integrate its loyalty program into Android Pay with NFC support, aiming to speed up the check-out process for Android users. Once the loyalty card is added to Android Pay, Walgreens shoppers only need to tap their phone once at check-out to get their Balance Rewards points, eliminating the need to manually scan their membership card.

In terms of support for loyalty programs, Android Pay is just catching up to Apple Pay, which has supported loyalty card integration since the launch of iOS 9 in late 2015. In fact, Walgreens was also the first U.S. retailer to integrate its loyalty program with Apple Pay. Earlier this summer Walgreens started testing digital coupon integration in Apple Pay to help customers save.

What Brands Need To Do
As it expands loyalty card support to Android Pay, Walgreens is making its check-out experience more convenient for more shoppers. Other retailers need to take a cue and start making their loyalty programs more accessible across platforms.

To learn more about how brands can leverage digital tools to fully engage customers across sales channels, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: 9to5 Google

Walgreens Integrates Digital Coupon Support With Apple Pay

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Walgreens is making it much easier for shoppers to use digital coupons with Apple Pay. The Deerfield, Illinois-based drugstore chain was one of the first retailers to accept loyalty cards via Apple Pay and has allowed members of its Balance Rewards loyalty program to clip digital coupons from various sources for redemption in stores. Now with a deeper Apple Pay integration, Balance Rewards members will be alerted when they shop online of available digital coupons, which they can clip with one tap and redeem when they check out via Apple Pay in the Walgreens app, on its website, or in stores. The company reported that to date over 135 million digital coupons have been clipped through its app and website.

What Retailers Need To Do
Earlier this month, Walgreens introduced two new APIs, one of which enables third-party apps to access their digital coupons, signaling its intention to expand its support for digital coupons. Now with this Apple Pay integration, the drugstore chain is making coupons a lot more user-friendly to its loyalty program members. The added perks will likely help boost signups and activities for the Balance Rewards program, which can help Walgreens lock in shopper loyalty regardless of where they choose to make the purchase. Other retailers need to take a cue and start making their loyalty programs more accessible across platforms.

For more information on how retailers can effectively reach connected consumers by taking an omnichannel approach, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: BusinessWire

Why Walgreens Released Two New APIs

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Pharmacy chain Walgreens is extending its developer efforts with two new APIs, making it easier for third-party apps to pull out information about their stores across the country and access their digital coupons. Walgreens launched its API program in 2012, allowing developers to send print requests to its in-store photo kiosks. Since then, the company has expanded this program to allow fitness app developers to access its Balance Rewards loyalty program and an API for apps that handle prescription refills and transfers.

What Brands Need To Do
Walgreens’ API program provides a great example for brands and retailers to make their information and services readily available for app developers. Previously, for instance, Walgreens would send an Excel or CSV file to developers who requested access to its store locations, which is an ineffective way to share such information. By releasing those APIs, not only is Walgreens building some goodwill among the developer community, it is also leveraging third-party apps to reach more customers. Therefore, more brands should take a cue from Walgreens and start releasing their own APIs.

For more information on how brands, especially retailers, can effectively reach consumers across platforms by taking an omnichannel, data-driven approach, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch