Calling it a retail pharmacy industry first,
Walgreens is partnering with Wing to test “store to door”
delivery of products via drone, the companies announced Thursday afternoon.
Wing Aviation LLC, an Alphabet company,
will begin deliver of “health and wellness, food and beverage and convenience
items” to Walgreens customers in Christiansburg, Virginia starting next month.
Financial terms of the relationship weren’t disclosed.
Wing earlier this year said it became the
first drone operator “certified as an air carrier by the Federal Aviation
Administration.” Wing also said in their announcement that they would be
partnering with FedEx Express in the Virginia market testing effort.
“The companies will utilize the pilot program
to further explore the future of health and wellness product and retail
delivery through the air, offering product availability and home delivery
minutes after placing orders via the Wing app,” Walgreens and Wing said in a
joint announcement.
It’s the latest pilot by Walgreens, which is
pushing bigger into the healthcare space while trying to get ahead of the
expansion of online retail giant Amazon, which last year bought the online and
home delivery pharmacy PillPack. Rival CVS Health is also stepping up its
digital and home delivery efforts while rolling out new HealthHub stores in
hundreds of markets across the country.
The drone delivery offers a new twist to the
value-based healthcare model of trying to get patients the right care, in the
right place and at the right time.
“With a customer-led focus, we continue to
create differentiated shopping experiences that provide the products and
services consumers need wherever, whenever and however they may want them,”
Walgreens Boots Alliance chief innovation officer Vish Sankaran
said. “This is the kind of omni-channel partnership and offering that can
redefine convenience for our customers and communities – delivering items to
homes in minutes, not hours or days.”
Walgreens said the drone partnership with Wing
fits the strategy executives have been touting for the last two years to
develop the “drugstore of the future.” The Wing partnership is one of many
Walgreens has underway testing and piloting various efforts to improve customer
experience while tapping into more ways to deliver health, wellness and beauty
services.
Earlier this year, Walgreens and Microsoft disclosed a
partnership to "develop new health care delivery models,
technology and retail innovations to advance and improve the future of health
care." The companies said they will combine the power of Microsoft Azure,
Microsoft’s cloud and AI platform, "health care investments, and new
retail solutions" with the reach of Walgreens' more than 8,000 U.S. stores
and retail locations around the world.
Walgreens is also testing the urgent care
market with UnitedHealth Group's MedExpress, which is opening centers adjacent
to Walgreens in several markets. Walgreens has also opened senior health
clinics in a collaborative effort with Humana, a health insurer with a large
Medicare Advantage business.
Walgreens and Wing said Christiansburg,
Va. “was selected as the test market as Wing has been working
closely with nearby Virginia Tech in Blacksburg to test drone delivery as
part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Integration Pilot Program since
2016.”
Walgreens isn’t saying when drone delivery
would be available at its stores across the U.S., but says it sees a large
potential market if the tests work out. “Although currently a pilot in one
market, Walgreens is in a unique position to capitalize on the convenience of
drone delivery if and when it should expand, with approximately 78 percent of
the U.S. population living within five miles of a Walgreens-owned store,” the
companies said.
Wing chief executive James Ryan
Burgess said Wing has been developing drone delivery for the
last seven years. “By delivering small packages directly to homes through the
air in minutes, and making a wide range of medicine, food and other products
available to customers, we will demonstrate what we expect safer, faster,
cleaner local delivery to look like in the future,” Wing’s
CEO said.
Christiansburg was selected as the pilot
location because Wing has been closely partnered with neighboring Virginia
Tech’s Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) for the past several years.
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