Walgreens Strategic Plan

Placed within an industry being pressured by reimbursement rates, plagued by market saturation, and in constant fear of government legislation, Walgreens is trying to pursue new avenues to promote company growth. In order to promote market share growth in New York, Walgreens acquired the drugstore chain Duane Reade in 2010 (WAG to Acquire NY Institution Duane Reade, 2010). Walgreens also recently expanded their online presence in May of 2011 with the acquisition of drugstore.com (Walgreens Co.). While Walgreens also focuses on traditional organic store growth, these actions exemplify their large focus on promoting company growth through new avenues.

A strategic plan is a tool that delivers guidance in achieving a mission or goal with maximum proficiency and control for an organization. Strategic planning is used to transform and revitalize organizations. The plan helps provide an inclusive understanding of opportunities and challenges both internally and externally for the organization. The plan delivers an assessment of the strengths and limitations that are realistic within the company. A well-developed strategic plan will offer a comprehensive approach and empowerment for the stakeholders involved. It is an opportunity for learning and understanding priorities that will drive the business to succeed. Jones (2010), describes how in health care organizations, strategic plans

Wal-Mart is a brand that is well known around the world, especially in the USA. It has gradually developed into the largest retailer in the world. Wal-Mart’s globalization efforts have been happening rapidly. But have they been successful in all aspects of their international expansion or not? This is the main thought that is going to be discussed in this essay. The questions I will be looking at are based on a case called “Wal-Mart takes on the world” from the book of International Business The Challenge of Global Competition eleventh edition – Ball, McCulloch, Geringer, Minor, and McNett. Questions are the following:

the benefits of a multichannel strategy” (p. 13). Walgreen’s image is about creating value and making shopping either for consumer goods or prescription drugs more convenient.

Walgreens has used customer value analysis to determine how it stands in comparison to its competition; the key to such an analysis involves understanding a company 's strengths and weaknesses in relation to its rivals. For example, two of Walgreens’ key strengths are that many of its locations are open 24 hours a day, and that it focuses on convenience as its stores rely on the drive-thru option (Strong, n.d., p. 10). Walgreens’ stores are also strategically placed

The second significant change for Walgreens in recent history is the purchase of Drugstore.com, a leading online retail pharmacy, in 2011 for the sum of $409 million. In addition, subsidiary companies of Drugstore.com were also purchased (Beauty.com, SkinStore.com, and VisionDirect.com). 4 Analysts have debated whether the recent acquisition should remain as a stand alone business or whether it should be integrated into the Walgreens business. Proponents of the integration argue that a consistent brand experience which extends from physical stores into the digital web will increase consumer loyalty. Proponents of leaving the online venture as a stand alone entity argue that integration of Drugstore.com into Walgreen’s will open up debate on pricing may diminish the consumer loyalty from Drugstore.com, thus negating the potential increase in sales. Walgreens has made it clear that it intends to leave the newly acquired online businesses as stand alone entities. 5

In its 2009 business model Walgreens locations are always set up as freestanding locations at the corners of busy, intersecting streets on the prevailing side of the street with the most traffic flow -- literally making it a "corner drugstore" similar to how many independent pharmacies evolved over the years in the United States. This also usually allows the store to offer additional conveniences such as a drive-through pharmacy and 24-hour shopping

The chart in Table 2 shows the edge Walgreens maintains over CVS and how that edge has been maintained with time.

At present Walgreens appears to be operating in a Horizontal Integration strategy demonstrated through its merger with Boots Alliance and a reported inquiry to purchase Rite-Aid. (Nichols, 2015) Market Penetration is another strategy which Walgreens is presently operating within. Their change in strategy to focus on the customer and improve customer service and relationships is one strategy that is being used to penetrate a market with vast competition that needs a differentiator to remain on top.

Walgreens’ principal activity is to operate a chain of retail drugstores that sells prescription and nonprescription drugs. The company also carries additional product lines like general merchandise including cosmetics, food, beverages and photofinishing. Walgreens is one of the fastest growing retailers in the United States and led the chain drugstore industry in retail sales and profits last year.

Knowing the importance of a strategic vision, every company undertakes a complete analysis periodically. In order to create a strategic plan the parties involved must know every aspect of the industry and the company at hand. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the retail drugstore industry and then focus on Walgreens, the industry leader in terms of sales. As part of the in-depth analysis of Walgreens, its major competitors will also be described and analyzed. The retail drugstore industry consists of all those stores that contain a pharmacy and sell prescription drugs. It also includes businesses that sell prescription drugs online and through the mail. Most retail drugstores also offer other

Both CVS Corporation and Walgreen Company operate retail drug stores in the United States. In addition to having pharmacies and selling prescription and non-prescription drugs both retailers also sell general merchandise. This includes items like beauty and cosmetic products, convenience foods, household items and film & photofinishing services.

The competitive prices, countless discount opportunities, and friendly employees keep customers loyal to Walgreens even if they are not making frequent visits to the pharmacy department. This paper seeks to analyze the different components of the drug store industry and the aspects of the marketing strategy of the Walgreens Company that have kept it a strong competitor for so many years.

Mirroring its main market competitor, CVS, Walgreens has also added Envision Pharma, a pharmacy-benefit management company, to its portfolio. (CVS acquired Caremark in 2007) (Bells, 2016) Due to previous acquisitions and mergers, Walgreens is currently the most accessible pharmacy retailer in the U.S., servicing 8 million customers each day and filling approximately 894 million prescriptions and immunizations, every year. (Walgreens, n.d.)

Like all departmental and/or discount stores, Wal-Mart's strategies are focused around achieving the goals such as building a large and strong customer base, under-cutting competitors, and organization of its supply chain in the most efficient and effective manner and above all, market growth.