Walgreens

Full review
I take a certain vitamin that I have only been able to find at Walgreens.com and Walgreens brick-and-mortar stores. I ran out of the vitamins and knew that a trip to a Walgreens store was not in the future. It’s not exactly next door for me. So I ventured over to the Walgreens.com website to make my purchase.


What the Website Offers

Walgreens.com is easy to navigate. There are a lot of tabs at the top of the screen that can at first look confusing, but they do help narrow the search. The tabs include: Pharmacy, Health Library, Photo, Shop, and View More. There is a cluster of smaller tabs of a different color to direct one to specific shopping categories: Electronics, Healthcare, Household, Personal, Toys, Baby, Vitamins & Nutrition, Beauty & Spa, Sexual Wellness, Contact Lenses, Fitness & Diet, Home Medical.

There are some quick links on the Home page to: Refill a Prescription, Drug Information, View the Weekly Ad and Coupons, and to check Rebates. There is also a button that allows one to customize the links on the website (great if you are a frequent shopper).

Along the bottom of the web page are links to: Store Locator, Weekly Ad, Shipping, Returns, Company Info, Careers, Website Survey, Contact Us, Help.


The Search Feature

I hate wading through a lot of unnecessary links or categories when I know the exact product I want. So I typed in “Theragran” into the search box on the Home page. This is the brand name of the vitamin I wanted to buy. The window changed to reveal 18 search results. Most of the results pertained to different Theragran vitamins, but a few were for a nutritional drink that Theragran makes (I didn’t know they offered a drink!). I found the vitamin I wanted to buy and clicked on the image of it.


Product Pages

Each product is featured with a photograph of the product that can be enlarged. I like the enlargement features since it allows me to read some of the finer print on product packaging. The page shows the regular product price and the sale price in red if there is one. The product size (or count) is listed as well as a good description.

The site offers consumers a chance to review products and leave their opinions online. Each product has up to a five star rating (five being the best rating possible). Very helpful are links to nutritional information, ingredients, product warnings and shipping details (such as the product weight and size of the packaging).

The page also lists in red if the item is out of stock (time saving!). If the product is eligible for free shipping, that is also indicated on the page. The page also lists how long it will take an item to ship.


Making the Purchase

It is easy to add items to the shopping cart. On the product page, you can change the quantity from the default quantity of one to whatever you wish. In my case, the vitamins were on sale ($4.00 cheaper a bottle than list price). I decided to order two bottles.

It is easy to visit the shopping cart to alter items in the cart. You can adjust the quantity and remove items with a single click. The shopping cart screen also shows a subtotal of the order and estimated shipping costs. I love it when a website is upfront about shipping fees.

If over $50.00 is spent on eligible items, then you qualify for free shipping. Note: the free shipping is only good on items marked as being eligible for free shipping. The free shipping does not apply to orders being shipping to Alaska or Hawaii.

Shipping costs are determined by weight (if the free shipping does not apply). Within the 48 contiguous United States, shipping charges are $5.49 for the first 10 pounds, plus 49-cents for each additional pound.

You can checkout from the shopping cart page. There is a box to enter a promotional or coupon code. Click the “Checkout” button to proceed with the purchase. There is an option to register with the site (creating a Login ID and password), or you can make a purchase without registering.

Walgreens.com accepts Discover, MasterCard, Visa, or American Express. They also accept PayPal payments. There is also a “Bill Me Later” feature. I paid with a credit card.

It is important to enter a valid email address during the checkout process. Walgreens will email a confirmation of the order. The confirmation email includes the order number in the email subject line, and the body of the email shows photos of the items ordered as well as a summary of the order information. There is an email link to customer service as well as their toll-free phone number that is active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Two days later I received a second email that provided a tracking number for the shipment. The email also stated the package would come via UPS.


Delivery

Delivery was timely with no problems. The box the vitamins arrived in was sturdy. However, the box hardly contained any packing material. The two large plastic bottles of vitamins were included as well as four foil sample packets of Excederin for tension headaches.


A Warning

I never considered this while ordering the vitamins online. Vitamins have an expiration date on the package. I had ordered two large bottles of vitamins. The expiration date on each bottle had a 2008 expiration date! I was not happy. These vitamins will no doubt expire before I can use them all. Nowhere on the product page does it mention information regarding vitamin expiration dates.


Summary

I’m not a big fan of Walgreens brick-and-mortar stores, and I’m feeling lukewarm about Walgreens.com. They provide a lot of items to choose from, and as a rule have good prices. It’s a case of know your prices when you shop. Will I shop at Walgreens.com again? I’m undecided.

I hope you found this review useful.

Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com


Please read my other reviews:

Best Buy Online Store

Buy.com Online Store

Linen 'n Things Online Store

Staples Online Store

NewEgg Online Store

Amazon.com Online Store

Cooking.com Online Store

The Republic of Tea Online Store

BJ's Wholesale Club


Copyright 2008 Dawn L. Stewart