DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. has entered into agreements with two companies to help bring its much-anticipated Internet site online next month.
In a deal to provide health information to the site's users the drug chain has selected the Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic to provide a comprehensive library on health for its E-commerce site, www.walgreens.com. The library will include content on 100 major health topics, a Walgreens spokeswoman says, with the number of subjects covered eventually growing to 250.
"By offering Mayo Clinic's credible health-related content we're establishing walgreens.com as an industry benchmark for on-line pharmacy services," comments Walgreens president and chief operating officer Dave Bernauer. "Consumers will have access to a trusted pharmacy name and the most respected health information name on one web site."
Among the services Mayo will provide are Healthy Lifestyles Centers, a section of the site that will offer in-depth analysis of health and lifestyle issues; Headline Watch, featuring perspectives on current news in health care; first aid information; health quizzes; a glossary of routine screening tests; and a question of the day. There will also be links to Mayo Clinic Health Oasis (www.mayohealth.org).
"Mayo's commitment to helping people live healthier lives includes serving as a health information resource for the general public," says Brooks Edwards, medical director of Mayo Clinic Health Oasis. "We are pleased that Walgreens will expand our reach so that more people will have access to reliable answers to their health questions."
Over the past year and a half the retailer has built a 1,700-requests-a-day prescription refill business on its Internet site. The debut of Walgreens' on-line pharmacy will enable patients to submit new prescriptions and refill current ones with the flexibility of having them delivered to their home or picking them up at one of the chain's 2,755 stores.
"Just as we prefer building our own stores versus acquisitions, we're building our pharmacy Internet site organically, rather than simply acquiring or partnering with an existing one," notes Bernauer. "This allows us to provide pharmacy patients with a more comprehensive on-line experience."
In the other deal that will help bring Walgreens' web site to fruition the company has selected USWeb/CKS to assist it in the design and development of the site's pharmacy.
Walgreens and USWeb/CKS have completed a detailed analysis of the site's systems architecture, business processes, supply chain dynamics and brand, according to Bemauer, and are now in the process of implementing the on-line pharmacy.
Following the debut of the pharmacy portion of the site Walgreens will roll out its on-line drug store, offering a host of nonprescription items.
"The ability of USWeb/CKS to quickly and efficiently integrate with Walgreens' resources and to develop our E-commerce strategies gives us a strategic advantage," Bernauer says. "The competitive landscape for on-line pharmacies is heating up, and Walgreens is determined to be the leading player. By capitalizing on our capabilities for technical innovation, established track record, nationwide network of physical store locations and trusted brand name, Walgreens on-line pharmacy will strengthen our leadership position by offering new services to our patients."
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