Overview of Walgreens Management Plan
In this assignment, I will focus on Walgreens, a US pharmacy that retails cosmetics, photo products, and the prescribed medicine. The Walgreen website is https://www.walgreens.com. The management plan has the main aim to elaborate on how the company is structured and how the team contributes to the company’s success. The major problem that Walgreen faces is the competition from other online stores as well as being unable to open more offline stores that make shopping for consumers easy.
Customer Demographic
Most Walgreen customers have low-income potential. According to Walgreen’s consumer demographic, the shoppers are mostly females about 21 years to 52 years with one or more children and who take care of an older adult. She is the primary caregiver for her family. Walgreen shoppers also include the aged who require prescription medicine.
Supply Chain Design
Design for quality
Walgreens uses customers’ demands to and obtains supplies according to the customer’s needs.
Delivery Speed
Walgreen has a team of reliable suppliers who offer timely delivery depending on the demand of the customers. After the goods reach the warehouse, Walgreen offers a fast delivery between 1-5 days, depending on the product.
Low Cost
Walgreen avails low-cost medication to its customers and in their retail clinics. Minor ailments can be treated at a lower cost as compared to a doctor’s appointment. The clinic accepts payments of the medical bills by insurance and boasts of affordable prices for customers without insurance. (Appleby,2013).
All these aspects are important in meeting the consumer’s needs; however, reducing the cost of medical care contributes most to their overall annual returns.
Material Resource Planning (MRP)
Walgreen’s has a mission “To be America’s most-loved pharmacy-led health, well-being, and beauty company” by focusing on their client’s satisfaction. MRP software helps to match the demand of the customers with the manufacture of the products. (Seifert, 2003) The company produces its brand of products. The software estimates the raw materials, labor, time, and machines needed to manufacture the product to correspond to timely delivery to the customers. Renowned Walgreens suppliers include: Veera Moore Cosmetics( http://www.veramoorecosmetics.com) and Trinidad Construction( www.trinidadllc.com)
Supplier Relationship Management Plan
Walgreen has a team that maintains a strong relationship with the suppliers and organizes expenditures on supplies. It also has a procurement team that negotiates on behalf of the company for the best prices to enable a win-win situation between the suppliers and the company in adherence to the term and conditions stipulated in the Supply negotiations.
Production and packaging
Walgreen has an independent brand that features a variety of products. These products are produced according to the demand of the customers. A team is responsible for formulating cost-effective packages by taking into consideration the customers’ heart desire.
Transportation
The company offers free shipping to the store. Orders above 35 dollars are also shipped free of charge. Orders below 35 dollars attract a shipping fee. Customers love free shipping as they do not incur additional costs after purchase.
Cost of Goods Sold
The cost of a product is largely dependent on the cost of the supplier. For Walgreen’s independently produced brands, the cost is determined by the price of raw materials, labor and manufacturing costs.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management Plan)
CRM plan has had a great impact on the company as it has helped retain its customers (Davis, 2013). The plan helps in knowing the targeted customers and use of social media to get customer feedback. A series of surveys are also conducted to get feedback on the service and also the customer needs. Walgreen also introduced balance reward programs and coupons to build customer loyalty.
CSR Plan (customer experience feedback loop)
This strategy involves a means of communication between the company and the customers about the products. The Company has a general feedback section on its website that customers fill in. This provides insight into how the company can improve its services to the customers.