Although Walgreens hasn’t made any public comments regarding the impact of its Balance Rewards loyalty program, various financial analysts cite the burgeoning program – which expanded its benefits in April – as a key driver in company sales.
Walgreens reported its May monthly sales of $6.22 billion, reflecting a 4.3% increase over May 2012. What’s more, total calendar 2013 sales rose nearly 3%, to $30.27 billion.
Walgreens and Alliance Boots announced a strategic partnership in June 2012. Based on the “Boots Advantage Card” loyalty program administered by Alliance Boots, which allows customers to earn points on purchases for redemption later – Walgreen’s Balance Rewards loyalty program has played an instrumental role in achieving sales growth as consumers made repeat purchases to accumulate points on their card, according to financial analysts.
Mai Lee Ua, Senior Manager at the Walgreen Co., told Loyalty 360 that the Balance Rewards loyalty program has shown steady and surprising progress. The program, which launched last September, had 64 million members through March, 68 million through April, and stands at 72 million through May.
“We continue to be ahead of plan, so we’re very pleased with the growth curve since the launch of the program,” she said.
In April the Balance Rewards loyalty program expanded its benefits to target healthy behavior – referred to as Steps With Balance Rewards -- which Lee Ua outlined.
“Now, walking, running and weight management goals can be logged and tracked through Steps with Balance Rewards,” she said. “Members will receive 20 points per mile, as well as 20 points per day for tracking their weight. Users also can log individual frequent activities that will earn points when recorded.”
Members can register for Steps with Balance Rewards simply by signing into their Balance Rewards account online or through the Walgreens mobile app. To earn points, members need to log their activities within the activity journal.
Lee Ua said the program was expanded to further promote healthy behaviors.
“We’re encouraging customers to take steps to help them achieve overall wellness,” she said. “It’s another way Walgreens helps people get healthy, stay healthy, and live well. Balance Rewards strengthens Walgreens ability to better understand our customers, meet their changing needs, and treat our best customers even better.”