FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and Walgreens Inc, the drug store unit of Walgreen Boots Alliance, Inc. (NYSE:WBA) have added returns to their logistics relationship.
The companies announced October 8 that consumers will be able to return shipments to Walgreen locations starting in early November. The returns program builds on a two-year-old initiative under which FedEx customers can pick-up and drop-off parcels at Walgreens locations. The companies also launched a next-day pharmaceutical delivery program at the end of 2018.
The returns program allows customers to print their return shipping labels at a Walgreens’ store as long as the merchants and e-tailers have implemented FedEx technology enabling e-commerce returns. A participating merchant or e-tailer can send the customer a return code via email. The code can be taken to a participating Walgreens location, where a store associate will print a return label in-store. This eliminates the need for the customer to print a label at home and for merchants to print and include a return label in every package, FedEx said.
Walgreens is part of the FedEx “retail convenience” network, which offers FedEx pickup and drop-off services at nearly 14,000 retail locations.