Get vitamins here. Change lives everywhere. Walgreens and Vitamin Angels
Vitamin and supplement sales are a competitive category in the retail world. This is true not only in the drug store business, but also in beauty and wholesale. To add an altruistic angle to the vitamin purchase process and persuade consumers to choose Walgreens as their retailer of choice, Walgreens partnered with Vitamin Angels to meet this mission.
The partnership began in 2013 with an in-store display pilot campaign, and was rapidly expanded to a 365-day, 24/7 cause-marketing partnership. This cause-marketing partnership, aimed at distributing life-changing vitamins to women and children, was launched to move the needle for brand differentiation, loyalty and consumer emotional connection. The partnership established that 1 percent of all Walgreens vitamin and supplement retail sales would be donated to Vitamin Angels to provide life-changing vitamins to pregnant women and children in need in the U.S., Puerto Rico and around the globe.
Over their 8-year partnership, Walgreens and Vitamin Angels have built momentum in its global reach. Through Vitamin Angels, who work hand in hand with communities around the world, Walgreens has been able to help more than 250 million women and children receive vitamins needed to survive and thrive in more than 70 countries. Despite the challenges 2020 presented in terms of human health and access, it was the most successful year yet for the partnership.
In light of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the global community’s collective power needed to be harnessed to reach and protect the growing number of vulnerable among us – and Walgreens set the wheels in motion. Despite challenging circumstances, Walgreens achieved a 30% calendar year donation increase on an already significant contribution. This success further demonstrates the extraordinary impact that buying vitamins can have in improving the health of mothers and children not only in the neighborhood, but around the world.
In January 2020, the ‘Quarter Drive’ was held, where team members engaged with every customer, at checkout, to donate 25 cents or more. These efforts raised over $1.9M for Vitamin Angels. By March 2020, Walgreens saw a 47% increase in vitamin and supplement sales, with an additional 15% added in April. Sales are still growing as consumers take proactive measures in building immunity with multivitamins.
In 2020, despite the challenges of COVID-19, Vitamin Angels’ global distribution continued, and the number of women in the U.S. who received prenatal vitamins and minerals increased by 5% due to the unprecedented year of vitamin sales and partnership success.
The program donations increased Vitamin Angels mission support by 30% YOY from $10.7M to $13.9M allowing Vitamin Angels to reach over 60 million underserved and undernourished women and children with nutritional interventions in 2020.
