Content about Sona Chawla

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. 


ATLANTA — Walgreens on Tuesday partnered with the online platform Sharecare on the launch of a new "Answers" application, which provides access to a comprehensive and searchable drug, supplement and wellness database on Facebook.

The application, which is integrated into Walgreens' Facebook page, gives Walgreens nearly 2 million followers convenient access to an interactive portal containing health information and resources.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Tuesday introduced its new Web Pickup service at locations throughout the Indianapolis area. Indianapolis is the second full market rollout for Web Pickup, which enables consumers to shop online at Walgreens.com and pick up orders at a Walgreens store in as little as an hour. The service also is currently available throughout Chicago and at a number of stores in San Jose, Calif.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — Somehow, someway, Walgreens will be the first to figure out how to beam a prescription right into a patient's medicine cabinet "Star-Trek" style. Because as sure as the chain's e-commerce president Sona Chawla is to Walgreens as Scotty is to the USS Enterprise, Walgreens is moving at light speed in monetizing and capitalizing on multichannel retailing. And the chain hasn't even got its multichannel engines really revved yet.

Call it “the attack of the coupon-crazed shelf sweepers.” It’s the most aggressive form of bargain hunting by consumers willing to spend hours searching out coupon deals, to stock up with enough product to last their families for a year and to turn their homes into veritable warehouses.


There’s a reason Walgreens’ leaders are pushing so hard to upgrade communications capabilities and reach consumers through every channel, from stores and drive-through pharmacies to social media and smart phones. “Multichannel shoppers are three times more valuable to a retailer than a single-channel shopper,” president and CEO Greg Wasson said in January.