Walgreens Will Participate in Localization Summit

On March 15, Walgreens announced that it will participate in the first-ever Localization Summit, a virtual showcase for diverse, local and regional businesses and entrepreneurs to share their retail offerings with the merchants of the national drugstore chain.

The virtual event, hosted by ECRM, provides local vendors, the opportunity to connect with Walgreens Merchandising team, share their product, and receive feedback with the ultimate goal of being stocked on Walgreens shelves in their local areas.

“As America’s community pharmacy, Walgreens is continuously looking for ways to highlight and connect with the communities we serve in a deeper and bolder way,” said Kirk Hanselman, interim chief merchandising officer at Walgreens.

“This event allows us to create a more meaningful and localized shopping experience by sourcing products from our customers’ neighborhoods that they know and love. We look forward to meeting the diverse group of business leaders and a successful event.”

What is ECRM, and how to use it?

ECRM Connect –  is a curated, pre-scheduled, one-on-one buyer and supplier virtual meetings. “From scheduling to follow-ups, ECRM helps automate the full meeting lifecycle and saves you time so you can be focused and empowered to get more done,” – the company said.

To attend the meeting, you need to create a free profile of your company on the platform. The next step will be the information that you give to your clients, or partners to see. With the Profile section, buyers access details about what sets suppliers apart from the competition while suppliers have access to buyer objectives. These extra details help focus discussions that lead to strong partnerships and future collaborations.

While the meeting the ECRM recommend using the Meeting Notes tab to keep track of all the discussion details, so that follow up is easily prioritized. Buyers access product details to fuel their planning and sourcing efforts. Items can easily be selected for follow up, so everyone has a clear path forward.

Localization Summit

The May 13 merchandising event will focus on products across grocery and household, apparel, beach, tourism and general merchandise, among others categories. “This event comes on the heels of the retailer’s successful virtual Supplier Summit in October, during which Walgreens updated nearly 250 suppliers on growth strategies including Walgreens commitment to local and community roots.

This localization summit aims to bring local businesses from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, to evaluate opportunities to build more locally relevant product offerings for Walgreens customers and deeper collaboration with new suppliers for the future,” – the company said.

All sourcing and product submissions will be made through RangeMe, the industry-standard online product discovery and sourcing platform. ECRM will qualify suppliers, create curated meeting schedules, and facilitate face-to-face virtual meetings with Walgreens buyers so that suppliers can introduce new and innovative products into the marketplace.

All Meetings will be conducted through ECRM’s industry leading virtual meeting platform, ECRM Connect, plus, ECRM’s dedicated support team will help ensure that buyer and seller connections are executed seamlessly.