Walgreens Co. announced yesterday (March 24th) that will purchase Drugstore.com (drugstore.com, beauty.com, skincare.com, visiondirect.com) for $429 million. WWD reports it to be the the eight-largest online retailer in the US according to Internet Retailer Magazine. A move deemed risky by some, just confirms the replenishment power of the web for health, beauty and household products. Walgreens will expand its online presence, tap into a higher end segment and add 2.9 million online customers to its portfolio. As shipping costs become minimal or free, people will rely more on e-retailers to do their large everyday purchases. Take soap.com for example, a competitor that Drugstore has to watch carefully, they offer free shipping for any purchase over $39, which is not hard to reach when buying toilet paper, laundry detergent and body lotion. Household, health and beauty sell well together and Walmart can take a large share of this market in which Amazon plays, but doesn’t dominate. If managed well, Walmart can leverage this acquisition to elevate itself and attract higher profile brands to its stores’ mix than their brick and mortar competitors that won’t have such a strong online play.
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Beauty & Household: Online Gold Mine | Walgreens buys Drugstore.com