Walgreens invites Puerto Rican vendors to virtual merchandising summit
Walgreens will hold its first ever Puerto Rico Localization Summit, a virtual event where local and regional businesses and entrepreneurs can showcase their retail products to the national drugstore chain.
The summit will take place Dec. 12-13 and will focus on a variety of product categories such as grocery, household, apparel and tourism. Suppliers can find additional information about the virtual event and apply to attend here.
Co-hosted by RangeMe and ECRM, the event aims to connect local suppliers with the Walgreens Merchandising team, allowing them to present their products and receive feedback, with the potential opportunity of having their products stocked in Walgreens stores on the island.
Building on the success of this year’s localization summit, Walgreens aims to bring in local businesses to evaluate opportunities to build more locally relevant product offerings for Puerto Rico customers and cultivate deeper collaborations with new suppliers.
“As we continue reimagining how to best serve the needs of each our communities to live out our purpose of more joyful lives through better health, we understand the importance of increasing local vendor representation in our Puerto Rico stores,” said Alethia Jackson, senior vice president for ESG and chief diversity, equity & inclusion officer for the U.S. at Walgreens Boots Alliance. “Our customers have a better in-store experience when our shelves reflect the diversity of their communities.
All sourcing and product submissions will be made through RangeMe, an online product discovery and sourcing platform. Walgreens will review submissions and invite selected suppliers for meetings with buyers on virtual meeting platform ECRM Connect, where they can introduce new and innovative products.
