Walgreens just announced an official partnership with on-demand startup Postmates to offer same-day delivery for, initially, a flat delivery fee of $4.99.
The on-demand delivery service via Postmates will be available at 600 Walgreens (known as Duane Reade in some parts of the U.S.) stores throughout the country. Postmates has always offered on-demand deliveries of items sold at Walgreens, but with an official partnership, Postmates gets access to Walgreens’ full catalog of items. That means Postmates will work closely with Walgreens to keep their catalog of the 500 most popular items in the store current.
“For us, on-demand delivery services are another way we’re supporting customers’ ability to engage with us in a way that’s most convenient for them,” Walgreens Director of Mobile Innovation Joe Rago said in a statement. “We’re pleased to begin this relationship with Postmates, as we believe the convenience aspect is of value to our customers. As this space evolves, we’ll continually stay abreast of trends to help identify opportunities for Walgreens to best service our customers’ needs.”
Postmates has two kinds of partners — those that use the Postmates API, like Etsy and Starbucks, to offer on-demand delivery services inside their apps, and those whose storefronts live within the Postmates app, like Chipotle, 7-Eleven and, now, Walgreens.
Postmates, of course, is not the only startup offering on-demand delivery of items. Uber has experimented with different types of delivery for things like UberESSENTIALS for everyday items and UberEATS. Meanwhile, there’s Instacart for grocery delivery, and earlier today, Target announced an official partnership with Instacart.