Walgreens 2006 Annual Report Download - page 10

Our most significant initiative was to
educate seniors about the Medicare
Part D prescription insurance program
launched in January 2006. To help
patients and their caregivers navigate
this complicated program and identify
the right plan for their needs, our
pharmacy staffs held in-store education
days, gave community presentations
and provided face-to-face consultations.
We also provided more than a million
personalized reports to identify the
available Part D insurance plans that
best matched an individual’s needs.
Community pharmacists were crucial to
the introduction of Medicare Part D.
Intimidated by complicated information,
people came to their neighborhood
pharmacies for face-to-face help. This
made for stressful days for pharmacists,
but set the stage for Walgreens to garner
a larger share of senior patients. Of the
Medicare Part D prescriptions filled by
Walgreens in the first eight months of
calendar 2006, more than 35 percent
were for new patients introduced to
Walgreens umbrella of pharmacy services
for the first time.
To further cement our commitment to
older Americans, we’ve formed a strategic
alliance with AARP to bring educational
resources about health, wellness and
medicines to adults 50 and over. With
more than 37 million members, AARP
is as respected for senior advocacy as
Walgreens is for prescription services. Our
exclusive retail arrangement will include
co-branded health information, an AARP
medications guide distributed at our
stores, and community programs
held across the country to provide
personal medication reviews by
Walgreen pharmacists.
Focusing on women
The Sanchez women – Nancy, Loraine,
Andrea and eventually Kalea – are a
strong force in their family, just like
the female shoppers who make up
75 percent of our customer base.
We know women spend 20 percent
more than men per Walgreens visit
and are responsible for the majority
of household purchasing decisions.
With the annual spending power of
female shoppers across America
exceeding $6 trillion, retailers pay close
attention to women’s needs. Walgreens
is evaluating every store aspect for
“female friendliness”– from décor to
product selection and placement.
With the help of more than 21,000
trained beauty advisors, we’re already
drawing millions of customers to our
cosmetic aisles annually by providing a
good selection of items at reasonable
prices. To attract new business, we’re
featuring hot products such as Zeno, an
electronic device used to treat acne.
We’ve also introduced a new collection of
European beauty products, which include
seven prestige lines of skincare items
from five countries – France, Germany,
Greece, Spain and Switzerland. Targeted
to women of all ages, the European
Beauty Collection is featured in approxi-
mately 1,000 stores where we’ve given
advisors special training and incentives to
promote products. This offers women a
department store experience without the
hassle or expense of a trip to the mall.
Generations of Customers
Page 8 2006 Walgreens Annual Report
Nancy Chavez, who has diabetes, is a regular
patient of Los Lunas senior pharmacy technician
Kristy Muñoz.