DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Walgreens has relaunched its advertising circular, a Sunday staple read by more than 50 million U.S. consumers each week, with a digital offering that offers hundreds of additional items through Walgreens.com and its mobile applications, while the print version gets a new look and feel designed to improve the shopping experience.
Online views of the circular alone have increased more than 50% year over year.
"This is the most dramatic refresh we've made to the weekly ad in more than two decades, delivering added value for our growing numbers of online and mobile customers, as well as a better experience for those who look forward to seeing it in print," said Joe Magnacca, Walgreens president of daily living products and solutions. "We're giving people more convenient ways to shop and save, and this complements our multi-channel strategy by finding new and different ways to cater to today's consumers."
The new design includes coupons grouped together by category on easy-to-find pages as well as sale items featured more prominently throughout.
Walgreens has also added QR codes enabling mobile users to quickly view more deals directly from a smartphone. Customers can also visit category-specific Walgreens websites highlighted in the ad or find additional bonus buys inside stores.
The online and mobile circular features hundreds of additional in-store offers, online exclusive pages and other "bonus buys." Online ads also allow for social sharing via Twitter and Facebook, the ability to create advanced shopping lists and more.
Those who sign up to receive the weekly ad via email will receive it as a sneak peek, delivered on Fridays. Signup is available online at www.walgreens.com/sneakpeek or in stores. Those who register will receive a $5 coupon.
"We know that for approximately half of the visitors to Walgreens.com, their next action is to go to one of our stores to shop," Magnacca said. "For our loyal customers who don't use computers or the Internet, all of the items we feature online each week will also be specially marked in our stores."
To view the new weekly ad, visit www.walgreens.com/weeklyad.
The new circular is Walgreens latest initiative that brings savings to consumers wherever they are and when it's most convenient.
Last November, Walgreens unveiled the largest retail mobile coupon offering in the United States on "Black Friday," with point-of-sale (POS) scanning available at more than 7,800 stores nationwide. The program helped generate more than 500,000 downloads of the Walgreens mobile application in December.
Walgreens is also leveraging mobile and social technology to send mobile coupons via Twitter and to customers who check in from Walgreens stores through platforms such as Foursquare.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens is the nation's largest drugstore chain, with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion. The company operates 7,830 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
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