It’s 8 am in the morning. Caroline is getting ready for the office, following her routine. She’s health-conscious and takes very good care of her fitness inside out. She takes a multivitamin tablet at 10 am every day (2 hours before lunch) to fill a nutritional gap.
“Oops, I forgot to buy my multivitamin tablets last night, and I cannot miss out on them for a single day as prescribed.” Caroline puffs and sees the clock.
“Yes! I can order and get them delivered at the office via the Walgreens app within two hours” Caroline relaxes and adds, “Couldn’t be more grateful to Walgreens Boots Alliance for developing a Pharmacy app like Walgreens.”
e-Pharmacy is not a new thing but, yes, a lucrative trend just like e-Commerce. Though the e-Pharmacy market isn’t fueled by millennials or Gen-Zers alone, baby boomers and Gen-X predecessors are the prime targets. Pharmacists take orders online and deliver them straight to the customer’s doorstep, making it the most convenient way to buy medicines.
The trend hit its peak during the COVID-19 Pandemic when people were seeking alternatives to visit brick-and-mortar pharmacies. Despite “Convenience,” greater accessibility and affordability are the motivating factors. Because traditional drugstores keep a limited inventory and, at a point, fall short of providing customers with the hard-to-find medicine.
In contrast, online pharmacies aggregate their supplies, access multiple sources, and afford medicine their customers are reserved about acquiring. In the market, online pharmacies fall into three main categories:
i> independent online-only pharmacies,
ii> online branches of “brick-and-mortar” pharmacies, and
iii> sites represent a partnership with neighborhood pharmacies.
Talking about the Walgreens Pharmacy app business model, it’s the hybrid of second and third, the online branches of its brick-and-mortar drugstore chains. Though, it also takes the benefits from its partnered brands to fulfill consumer needs. If you have a few stores and want to make an app like Walgreens, first, you must know how it operates online.
Walgreens Pharmacy App Business Model
A century-old, second-largest drugstore chain in the United States next to CVS Health, Walgreens boasts around 18500 stores in 11 countries. It also has 390 distribution centers to cater to other 20 countries. Walgreens Stores stock a wide range of prescription medications, beauty products, health care & fitness supplements, households, photo print, Cards & Stationery.
Walgreens stores have been the neighborhood drugstore to Americans, selling more than just medications. With Medicine Delivery App Development, the company could uplift the consumer convenience and satisfaction of availing its products. Consumers can also order prescriptions and get alerts when it’s ready for pickup in-store within 30 minutes. It’s said, the app fills more than one prescription from mobile devices every second.
What Else Stands Walgreens App Out From The Crowd?
How Walgreens works, understands, and fulfills every consumer demand prevails in the market for the company. Let’s have a glimpse at its core features & functionalities.
For Prescriptions
- Customers can refill their prescription in a second by scanning the barcode,
- It allows consumers to track order status,
- Pill reminders feature of the app helps patients stay on track and manage daily medications,
- It offers a FREE prescription and general health advice service 24/7 from a pharmacy expert through a live chat,
- In-app chat with pharmacists eliminates any latent barrier,
- Auto Refills feature facilitates consumers receive their regular prescription without hassle,
- Drug Info allows patients to know insights into their medicines,
- Same Day Delivery lets consumers receive the order within a couple of hours,
- Email & Text alerts notify consumers that the order is ready for pickup,
Walgreens Find Care
- Find Care near you lets consumers connect with doctors and healthcare providers from their phone or in person when they need it,
- Walgreens also lets consumers find a store and schedule a slot for Flu shots & Immunizations online. And also provide safe access to COVID-19 vaccines following guidelines.
Shop & Savings
- From beauty, personal care, fitness & nutrition, natural & organic, household, and home and pet care products are available for Shop online,
- On shopping, consumers also earn Walgreens Cash rewards credited into their my Walgreens member in addition to personalized, exclusive deals for them,
- Walgreens Weekly Ad deals of the week on online orders attract more consumers allowing them to save more,
- Consumers can also Scan products in-store to clip coupons earned online and save at checkout,
- With the Walgreens app, consumers can also print and pickup photos the same day for free,
- Walgreens lets them personalize their Photo Cards and Gifts and show creativity on Wall Décor for their home.
Customer Profile
Customers can govern their prescription order and shop online or in-store by creating an account on the Walgreens app. It encompasses handy features like:
- Refill Prescription
- Prescription Status
- Product Purchase History
- Buy Again
- Auto-Reorder Manager
- Shopping List
- Free Shipping on orders above $35
- Ship Order To Nearby Store To Pick Up for Free
- Online Payment
- Return & Refund
On top of the above features, the company offers incredible customer service and rewards on health goals. Yes, users can set their health goals on Walgreens, track the progress syncing with the Apple Health app and earn cash rewards.
Of course, to build such fantastic features in your e-pharmacy app, you need a strong development team and financial backup.
How Much Does It Cost To Develop An App Like Walgreens?
Before you start developing or estimating the cost, you must check the feasibility of the concept. By creating a Lean Canvas business model, you can cross most of the boxes required for your proof of concept.
The next thing you should have before hiring app developers is a project requirement document. You can edit it with your project manager and break down the project into milestones with definite deadlines.
For succeeding phases like Wireframing, Prototyping, Coding, Testing, and Deployment, you need an on-demand app development team with industry specialization. Take a guide on how to choose a mobile app development company to build a pharmacy app like Walgreens.
When you interact with your development team, they will scrutinize your pharmacy app core concept, requirements, technologies needed to build app features, etc. These are the factors that fluctuate the cost of developing an e-Pharmacy mobile app. Analysis of such factors leads you to know how and where your app costs more or less.
If we were to ballpark a figure for Walgreens like Pharmacy mobile app development cost, a basic version might require $10000 to $15000. However, despite app development costs, there are other aspects you need to consider. Such as:
- Your online pharmacy registration,
- Obtain proper licenses, certifications, or permission,
- Secure user data on your app with adequate encryption methods,
- Integrate protected account verification methods like two-way authentication, fingerprints, etc.,
- Install real-time analytics system to measure app KPIs,
- Select the reliable and scalable database to store and manage data,
- Payment gateways like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, etc.,
Down The Line
With every passing day, more and more people start relying on e-Pharmacy mobile apps. We never heard even remotely that a consumer got back to the traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacy after using such apps once. Have you? Why would they? e-Pharmacy apps outweigh obstacles standing in the pharmacy industry way, and consumers staying at home order their prescriptions, refill by scan, and earn rewards.
Nonetheless, to be a prominent player in the e-pharmacy market, you need an experienced team and robust technology. But what plays a significant role in the success is your e-Pharmacy App Idea. Though, with MVP, Prototyping, or Proof Of Concept technique, you can test and furnish your app idea in your audience’s favor.
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