Walgreens and other drugstore chains may be looking to become bigger players in grocery. In what appears to be a counter-offensive, Safeway is now offering a discount on groceries for consumers who stop by its pharmacies to get a flu shot.
Earlier this week, the grocery chain announced that consumers who took advantage of walk-up flu shots offered at more than 1,100 of its stores across the country would receive a 10 percent off coupon (excluding NJ) to use for grocery shopping.
"Safeway is removing the barriers to health and wellness by offering flu shots in our Safeway community pharmacies in stores where people are already shopping most often, and where they have easy access to an abundance of nutritious foods and other items to keep their families healthy," said Darren Singer, senior vice president of pharmacy, health and wellness at Safeway, in a press release.
This is not the first time a grocer has linked the sale of one category of products to another. Chains have used gas rewards as an enticement to get consumers to purchase more groceries. In April, for example, Kroger revamped its fuel rewards to give shoppers between 10 cents and $1 a gallon off on gas based on purchases made in the chain's stores.