In a move similar to UPS and its access point location program launched two years ago, FedEx has struck a deal with Walgreens that will place staffed parcel pickup and dropoff operations at local Walgreens stores.
After an initial, small-scale rollout this spring, the companies say the program will be available at thousands of Walgreens locations later this year and chain-wide at nearly 8,000 Walgreens stores by the fall of 2018. Coincidentally, that’s the same number of UPS locations, between UPS stores and local business partners like pharmacies and 7-11s.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It could benefit both parties by increasing foot traffic at Walgreens and reducing the incidence of delivery mistakes by FedEx.
“Walgreens, with its strong focus on customer care, is the perfect retailer to help us continue to meet the growing demand for convenient, secure dropoff and pickup options, and our research has shown that customers rank pharmacies as a preferred location for accessing their ecommerce shipments,” said Raj Subramaniam, executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer for FedEx in a release. “This will substantially increase customer access to staffed locations and enhance convenient access to FedEx Ground and FedEx Express options.”
MCM Musings: This is a win-win for both parties and makes total sense in the light of moves toward offering more delivery options for customers. Pickup programs, more popular in Europe where it is called “click and collect,” are gaining momentum on these shores. In addition to providing customer convenience – letting them grab or drop off packages as they go about their day – these programs are cost-savers for carriers who thereby avoid the expensive final mile of the parcel journey.