DEERFIELD, Ill. — AARP has selected Walgreen Co. for a three-year contract to deliver retail drug store program benefits to the association’s members.
Walgreens said Thursday that it will provide AARP members with exclusive offers and rewards, as well as member and community outreach to promote health and wellness.
The drug chain and AARP, which represents Americans over age 50, began their relationship in 2006.
"As the nation’s largest community pharmacy with the most 24-hour locations, a growing range of pharmacy, health and wellness services, and constant innovations to deliver cost-effective care, Walgreens is essential to AARP members. We are proud to work with AARP in improving the health and wellness of people over 50, so we are excited to be selected to provide the retail drug store program that carries the AARP name and to take our relationship into the future," Walgreens president and chief executive officer Greg Wasson said in a statement. "Millions of Americans over 50 choose Walgreens for their health and daily living needs, and we are pleased to provide AARP’s members with extra rewards, offers and services."
According to Walgreens, the relationship with AARP going forward includes two main components: a retail drug store program and member/community outreach.
Through the drug store program, AARP members can show their AARP membership cards at Walgreens registers and get monthly and weekly offers for exclusive values on in-store purchases. Additional benefits will be announced later in 2012, Walgreens said.
AARP members, too, can shop with an exclusive online discount at a co-branded microsite, aarp.walgreens.com.
Walgreens also is developing program services for AARP members that are focused on the pharmacy experience, including accessing pharmacists by phone, online chat and in-person interactions. The chain added that more benefits could include education and tools to help members manage new prescriptions, and such programs will be tested this year for potential national rollout. AARP members also will receive special preventive health offers throughout the year.
The outreach component includes the Walgreens Way to Well Health Tour with AARP and the Walgreens Way to Well Community Health Events with AARP. The tour is comprised of four buses with trained staff delivering six free health tests in underserved communities. The Walgreens Way to Well Community Health Events with AARP also include free health tests delivered by Walgreen pharmacists and are hosted by Walgreens stores. Both programs provide a free AARP annual membership to all participants.
"AARP is pleased to select Walgreens to provide a retail drug store program offering unique values on important health and wellness products and services. We are taking our relationship to a new level on behalf of our members representing America’s growing population of people over 50," AARP CEO A. Barry Rand stated. "The AARP/Walgreens Wellness Tour proved successful in bringing more than $60 million in free health tests to communities across America during the past three years, and we are looking forward to bringing a new tour, the Walgreens Way to Well Health Tour with AARP, to many more Americans, particularly in medically underserved areas of the country."
Walgreens added that along with AARP, it has made available since 2006 a variety of initiatives, including discounts for AARP members, the AARP/Walgreens Wellness Tour, AARP membership card offers, online discounts for health and wellness products, in-store AARP membership drives and "Medicines Made Easy" education. Walgreens has also been an annual platinum sponsor of the Life@50+ AARP National Event & Expo.
