Walgreens Grows On-Demand Delivery Offerings With Instacart

Walgreens is growing on-demand delivery offerings with the help of Instacart to those who live in Illinois. The pharmacy retailer has intentions to launch the service throughout the country to almost 8,000 retail locations in future weeks, according to a Tuesday (Feb. 23) announcement.

Shoppers can now get tens of thousands of Walgreens favorites such as convenience items, household essentials and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals delivered to them as quickly as 60 minutes, according to the announcement.

“This collaboration builds upon several other recent steps in our digital transformation to deliver health expertise to customers in new channels, which is timely given shifts in customer needs during the pandemic,” Walgreens Vice President, Digital Commerce and Omnichannel Stefanie Kruse said in the announcement.

The service will grow in future weeks to markets such as New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Dallas and Southeast Florida after the rollout in Illinois. Customers can use the web or the Walgreens storefront in the Instacart app to order Walgreens products for delivery. Clients can chat directly with their Instacart shoppers and will get in-the-moment updates.

A membership isn’t needed when utilizing Instacart. However, the firm provides an Instacart Express membership that comes with decreased service fees and unlimited delivery on all orders exceeding $35.

“At Instacart, we’re dedicated to giving customers same-day access to the essentials they need from the retailers they know and love. We’re proud to expand on that commitment and welcome Walgreens to the Instacart marketplace,” Chris Rogers, vice president of retail at Instacart, said in the announcement.

The news comes as Instacart will be providing same-day delivery service from more than 6,000 Family Dollar stores under a new collaboration with the retailer. Clients will be able to make orders for Family Dollar via mobile app or the web.

“Providing same-day delivery is another example of our efforts to better meet the evolving needs of our Family Dollar shoppers,” Family Dollar CEO Mike Witynski said in a previous press release.