Content about Computing

What product she wants. Where she wants the product. When she wants the product. Delivering on those promises is what multichannel retailing means to Walgreens. “We believe consumers want choice,” noted Sona Chawla, Walgreens’ president of e-commerce. “People will shop online one day, [and] they’ll shop the store the next day; it depends upon events and what they’re looking for.” 


And it’s through that customer engagement that Walgreens has perhaps most visibly transformed its relationship with its consumer base. 


STAMFORD, Conn. — Pharmacy staff, law enforcement officials and loss-prevention personnel can follow updates about pharmacy robberies, burglaries and potential threats in their area through Twitter updates by a drug maker that developed a program to combat pharmacy crime.

ROCKVILLE, Md. — According to "Nutritional Supplements in the U.S.," a report released earlier this week from Packaged Facts, supplement sales rose 7% to $11.5 billion in 2012, and are forecasted to reach $15.5 billion by 2017.

The report cited a number of factors, including a recovering economy that should have more consumers picking up on supplementing again, the aging baby boomer and a growing Hispanic population that is heavily indexed as supplement users. 

RESTON, Va. — Four-out-of-every-5 smartphone users — 85.9 million people — accessed retail content on their device in July, according to a study by ComScore.

Amazon led as the top retailer with an audience of 49.6 million visitors, representing 46.6% of smartphone owners, followed by eBay with 32.6 million visitors and Apple with 17.7 million visitors. Walmart had the largest reach among traditional brick-and-mortar retailers with 16.3 million visitors, followed by Target with 10 million visitors and Best Buy with 7.2 million smartphone visitors.

ATLANTA — Case-Mate has released a portfolio of cases for the new Apple iPhone 5.

“Life…supplemented” last month launched a resource app for iPhones and iPads. DSN sat down with Judy Blatman, SVP communications for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, to get the details on the launch.


DSN: First, what is the new app? 


DENVER, Colo. — Retailers remain conservative when it comes to financial investments in mobile and tablet initiatives despite the industry buzz, according to a survey by Shop.org and Forrester Research.

NEW YORK — General Electric and Healthline have introduced a new application that lets users explore the inside of the body, the companies announced Tuesday.

BodyMaps, designed to work with the Apple iPad's Retina display, features 3D, high-resolution images of more than 1,000 body parts, tissues, bones and organs and a searchable index.

NAPA, Calif. — Coastal Wine Brands has debuted a new California white wine blended with natural orange flavor.

Charonge, which debuted last month, the wine is zestily fruity with fresh orange blossom, peach/apricot and yellow plum aromas. On the palate, it delivers crisp, wonderfully refreshing orange, papaya and yellow apple flavors that are enlivened in the wine's long, snappy finish by a slight spritz, the company said.

Charonge carries a suggested retail price of $12 per bottle.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Tuesday announced a new application built into Facebook that allows desktop computer users to print their favorite photos, complete with likes and comments, at any Walgreens location nationwide as part of a feature called PrintWorthy.

ATLANTA — Health kiosk manufacturer SoloHealth is in a deal with computer maker Dell to produce kiosks that it will deliver to retail locations around the country starting in the fall, the companies said Monday.

WASHINGTON — According to the National Retail Federation and BIGinsight's "2012 Back-to-School" survey, families with school and college-aged students as of Aug. 7 said they have more than half of their shopping lists to complete.

The average person with children in grades kindegarten through 12 has completed 40.1% of their shopping, while college shoppers and their families have completed slightly more at 45.3%.

Overall, school and college shoppers this year are expected to spend a total of $83.8 billion.