Walgreen Company and Caremark Corporation Competitive Advantage - Case Study Example

As a market leader, Walgreen Company has shown great drive through innovation by being the first to develop prescription containers which are child resistant. It was also among the initial drugstores to employ the use of satellite-based technology in connecting pharmacy related systems. Brand equity has been enabled by the use of technology and currently, it is among the finest drugstore chains in terms of convenience and quality to its customers. Innovation practices of Walgreen Company have had an impact on its sales over the past few years and it has remained to be the leader in the drugs and food industries.

Convenience is the most sought attribute by many customers and this has been portrayed by the company as compared to their close rivals CVS. As a result, it has proved to be the leader in the drugs business based on its growth in earnings, sales and market share among others. All this have been brought a result of technology innovation that allows the customers to order the drugs online and they obtain them in convenient stores in the countries that they operate (Dietz, 2012). On the other hand, CV has also utilized Information technology in its attainment of the competitive advantage among its rivals.

Being in a market where Walgreen Company is the market leader in the provisions of quality and convenient drugs, it had to invent ways and techniques to stay in the market. In all its 6200 outlets, the company improved its customer relationships that were achieved through technology innovation. A survey was carried in 2002 and it was realized that customer’s prescription refills were being delayed as a result of delays in insurance processing. The management then employed information technology that will enable customer’s concerns to be sorted there and then before the customer left.

After a few years, there was recorded an improved customer satisfaction. This was achieved through the customer relationship management system by use of cloud computing as all the locations and outlets shared patient’s data and information could be assessed from any outlet (NetStandard, 2012). Walgreen Company also is at the top of its competitors due to its locality. They are known for their superior locations due to the organic strategy that has given the company the opportunity to choose good locations to initiate more stores.

Walgreen stores stand in certain locations alone, and this has enabled the drug store to expand into a 24-hr operated company in the recent financial years. The locations are beneficial to the drug store because more profits have been realized through profits as compared to the traditional strip centers. It is more advantageous since it is easy to copy competitive strategies for other companies and location is not easily copied by competitors (Walgreens Co, 2013). On the other hand, CVS has also its competitive advantages through the ability to serve and offer additional services to their customers.

They have a Maintenance Choice Program that enables its customers to save some cash and receive a 90day supply of drugs that they use for their maintenance at all the CVS retail outlets other than from the Care mail service pharmacy. This has enabled most of the customers to reduce the duration between receiving the drugs that they want. CVS also offers benefits to its customers.