Walgreen’s In-Store Failings Threaten Customer Loyalty and Sales, Says New Report
—Study Finds Out-of-Stock Sale Items Persistent in 76% of Walgreens Stores, Mislabeled Promotions Common in 94%—
—Stores Surveyed in Los Angeles, Miami, New York and St. Louis—
New York, May 16, 2013—Walgreen Co.’s (NYSE: WAG) failure to execute the most basic of retail tasks—keeping shelves stocked and correctly labeled—may be undermining efforts to build customer loyalty and raise flagging sales, according to a report issued today by Walgreen Strategy Watch, a corporate transparency initiative of Change to Win. The report, titled Off Balance: Out of Stock and Mislabeled Sale Items at Walgreens, details how widespread inventory and promotional problems at the nation’s largest chain drugstore may threaten its loyalty program Balance Rewards.
During March and April, researchers made three trips to 200 stores for a total of 600 visits in some of the company’s largest markets: Los Angeles, Miami, New York and St. Louis. Key findings of the report, available for download at www.WalgreenStrategyWatch.org, are:
- Out-of-stock problems persistent at more than three-quarters of stores. Seventy-six (76) percent of stores had out-of-stock sale inventory during every survey visit.
- Items were consistently out of stock in multiple markets. For example, a store-brand feminine hygiene product was out of stock during 73 percent of visits across all markets.
- Mislabeled sale items common in nearly every store. Ninety-four (94) percent of stores had at least one discounted item not marked as on sale during multiple survey visits, and 50 percent of surveyed locations had three or more items that were not labeled as on sale during each visit.