TomD, now this will be drugstore.com competition.
Trust me.
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Deerfield, Illinois, May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, said prescription drugs will be the first products sold over its Web site, possibly as soon as August.
The retailer already lets customers order and check the status of drug refills over the Internet. The company is expanding its site to allow the sale of products, company spokesman Michael Polzin said.
Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreen, which gets about half its $15.3 billion in annual sales from prescriptions, is developing its site to compete with fledgling online pharmacies such as Drugstore.com and PlanetRX, as well as expanded Internet offerings from drug chains such as CVS Corp. and Rite Aid Corp.
''Walgreen doesn't want to give CVS the first mover advantage,'' said Mark Husson, a Merrill Lynch analyst, noting that the company appears to be accelerating its schedule for online commerce.
CVS, the second-largest drug chain, earlier this month agreed to purchase Soma.com, an Internet pharmacy based in Seattle. It's also working with Microsoft Corp. on the content and look of its Web site.
Walgreen, which last year filled 226 million prescriptions in its stores and through its mail-order service, expects to sell other products such as shampoo, toothpaste and batteries on the Internet before year's end.
Prescriptions sold on line will be cheaper than those offered in stores, Polzin said, allowing Walgreen to compete with price breaks offered by Internet competitors.
Walgreen will use its Tempe, Arizona mail-order facility to distribute products sold on the Internet, he said.
Walgreen fell 1 13/16 to 23 5/8 in late trading.<<
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