Walgreens, one of the leading drugstore chains in the U.S., is now offering same-day fulfillment of store orders 24 hours, seven days a week, from nearly 400 stores that never close.
Customers can order from 27,000 items (groceries, household items, personal care products and more) any time of day or night. Delivery fees vary by region. Walgreens is utilizing delivery services, such as Instacart and Postmates, for the service. How fast? Walgreens is talking “in as little as 1 hour,” but there’s fine print on that level of speed, connected to the time of day and order values.
The same day delivery service can be accessed through Walgreens.com or by using the Walgreens app. Customers select the nearest Walgreens location that’s open 24 hours, select their order and that order will be delivered if the customer is within the delivery range. Age-restricted items like tobacco and alcohol add wrinkles to the service and offerings and rules vary by state.
Through Dec. 10, Walgreens is offering free delivery on orders totaling $20 or more to launch the service (use order code NOW20).
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“Walgreens knows that taking care of health and wellbeing isn’t exclusive to business hours and that needs can pop up at any time of day – that's why we’re always looking for ways to enhance the customer experience with convenient and trusted solutions,” said Stefanie Kruse, group vice president of digital commerce at Walgreens.
Note that Walgreens’ prescription-delivery service operates on an entirely different platform, with different pricing and timing – though same-day service is also often available – and from vastly more stores (8,000).
The move extends Walgreens' effort to shorten turnaround times for customer pickup and delivery. During the height of the pandemic, in November 2020, Walgreens launched a service it called Pickup, for customer pickup in as little as 30 minutes curbside, in-store or drive-thru. Same-day delivery in as little as one hour (but not 24/7) started in May 2021.
Next up: The pilot program of 30-minute pickup guarantee that will cover the cost of the order if it isn’t ready within 30 minutes. That test is being done in markets in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Walgreens and other traditional pharmacies are stepping up their perks for customers as online giant Amazon saunters deeper into the health services field. Amazon recently launched Amazon Clinic, a message-based virtual health care service that can be used to treat anything from allergies to erectile dysfunction. And through its Amazon Pharmacy service, Amazon offers 24/7 access to pharmacists as well as fast prescription-filling services, though not 30-minute or one-hour delivery.
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