Be the first to commentThis entry was posted in Events, Mobile, Retail Companies
Bold, innovative and agile.
Sona Chawla uses those words to describe the culture at Walgreens. And her description is spot on. Chawla oversees a team in charge of all digital properties for Walgreens – from integrating digital technology in stores to developing mobile solutions and growing online sales. The first drugstore chain to install computers in every pharmacy and link them nationwide by satellite is now leading the way in mobile experiences and boundary-less retailing.
Ahead of her keynote at Shop.org’s Annual Summit, I asked Chawla about the influence of “digital DNA,” the lessons she’s learned about the omnichannel customer, and the Walgreens Developer Program.
Sona Chawla, President of E-commerce, Walgreen Co.
Tell us what it means to develop a “digital DNA” and how it applies to Walgreens.
Developing digital DNA is critical for companies that were not born digital. Every company likely will have a unique path to developing digital DNA – some will seed it by bringing in outside talent, while others will evolve from within. Some will create standalone digital teams, while others will embed them within existing organizations.
I believe the path to developing digital DNA has to be customized for each organization and based on its legacy, digital penetration for its products and services, and digital IQ. Regardless of the path, the outcome should result in widespread acceptance, advocacy and influence of digital throughout the broader organization. Everyone in the organization should view digital as a channel that unlocks new business opportunities, including ways to further engage customers. It’s not something to be feared or second-guessed.
At Walgreens, we start by developing great digital assets that enhance and evolve our core business model. We believe that digital innovation comes from marrying deep business knowledge and digital expertise. By using this approach, we have created features like Refill by Scan and Quickprints that have delighted our customers. This kind of innovation is not “bolted-on” from the outside; it happens from within and eventually transforms the entire organization.
Walgreens’ “flagship” stores, like Wicker Park in Chicago, represent a new era of retail and health care. Explain how your physical and online sides work together to make omnichannel initiatives a reality.
We have 11 flagship stores today, located on the best corners of some of America’s greatest cities, like our Bucktown/Wicker Park location in Chicago. Our flagship stores reflect our Well Experience strategy, which is designed to transform the customer experience across all touch points, channels and formats. We are giving shoppers what they want, where and when they want it.
From a physical perspective, the Well Experience store design is centered on the idea of “well.” It’s in the store layout and décor, in the product offerings and, most importantly, in the relationships we foster with our customers. But the transformation is more than skin-deep – in areas like the pharmacy, we are redefining processes and the roles of our pharmacists. We’ve automated traditional workflows so that pharmacists are able to come out from behind the counter and work directly with patients. They have greater ability to educate patients about their prescriptions and the importance of taking their medications.
To support the Well Experience, we have launched many digital capabilities and innovations. Here are a few:
- In-store mapping capability within our mobile app that acts like a GPS within our store, helping customers locate products
- Text messaging that customers can opt into to receive alerts when their prescription is ready for refill or pickup
- iPads are provided to in-store health guides, which allow them to access walgreens.com for additional health information and tools to better serve our patients
- Complete digital enablement of our 79 million-plus member loyalty program (Balance Rewards), allowing rewards card access and rewards management via our mobile app. In addition, we were an early adopter of Apple’s Passbook, and we have worked with Samsung and Microsoft to do the same with Samsung’s Wallet and Windows Phone 8
As e-commerce and m-commerce have grown in recent years, what are some of the things you’ve learned about your omnichannel customer?
It’s no surprise that our omnichannel customers are among our best Walgreens customers. We have many emerging data points to show this. A customer who interacts with us online and in-store spends, on average, three and a half times as much annually as our average in-store-only shopper. Customers who engage with us online and on mobile spend six times as much annually. Those who use our mobile app are more likely to be adherent to their medications than those who don’t.
We are also finding that our customers are hungry for digital experiences that enhance their in-store shopping experience, and we’re working to deliver new and innovative features to meet those needs.
You’ve partnered with some innovative companies like KlutchClub, Sparkfly, and Milo for some e-commerce initiatives. Tell us a little more about a recent collaboration and how it fits into your omnichannel goals.
There is an incredibly rich ecosystem around digital innovation today, and we recognize that we need to tap into that innovation to further evolve our digital DNA.
A great example of how we’ve done this is through our Walgreens Developer Program. We’ve developed APIs that let third-party developers integrate photo and pharmacy ordering capabilities into their apps (with revenue sharing). We get to leverage the talent and innovation coming from the developer community while the apps are driving thousands of customers back into our stores – it’s a win-win.
What innovation (or innovator) do you think will shake up the retail industry next?
We pay close attention to what companies are bringing to the consumer digital market, since much of that is driving the innovation in retail today. Wearables like Google Glass and “smartwatches” are a new computing paradigm that we’re watching closely. Computing is becoming increasingly ubiquitous and more deeply personalized, and that’s creating interesting opportunities in retail. It also is creating opportunities in health and wellness and that is a sweet spot for us since we are a retail healthcare business.
Give us a glimpse inside Walgreens’ company culture. How has the addition of digital experts helped to reinvent the century-old brand?
We are a purpose-driven company with a culture that is bold, innovative and agile. We have thrived for the past 112 years because of our ability to adapt and remain relevant to consumers. Our digital experts embrace the same vision and mission as the rest of the company. Learning goes both ways – digital experts absorb all aspects of the core business, including brick-and-mortar operations, while simultaneously evangelizing and educating others on the importance of digital. These actions are fundamental to our approach toward developing digital DNA.
For those attending the Shop.org Annual Summit in just a few weeks, Chawla will take the keynote stage on Wednesday with Walgreens President and CEO, Gregory Wasson to discuss how this century-old brand continues to reinvent itself. You don’t want to miss it.
via Shop.org Blog http://blog.shop.org/2013/09/09/talking-withwalgreens-president-of-e-commerce-sona-chawla/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.