Why Walgreens Isn't That Interested In The Mobile Gaming Business
"As we see mobile increasingly used in the stores you are questioning how much fun people want to be having while they're at the store," Lesperance said. "Ask, 'Do people want to play a game while they're at Walgreens?'"
But Lesperance noted that he was mildly surprised for some of the mobile features.
"We never tried to make ordering refills fun, but people are saying that it is with the app," he said.
Walgreens' Twitter account, however, isn't completely without a sense of humor. During the recent power outage at the 2013 Super Bowl, Walgreens immediately tweeted:
Quickly followed by:
The key goal of Walgreens social strategy is to draw consumer engagement — and some of these strategies qualify as entertaining.
Rather than giving people one dollar off Hershey's candy at Halloween, Lesperance explained that they'd rather give people the chance to "win a bunch of candy" if they write an essay, for example, of what they'd do with their winnings and take photos.
Lesperance added that one social sphere that the drug store chain is currently dominating at is Foursquare, since, with 8,000 stores nationwide, everyone is always looking for a local Walgreens.
"We cater to the Foursquare audience," Lesperance said. "We were the first retailer to do a scannable barcode with a check-in."
What could be more fun than that?