Taking care of customers at Walgreens: A strategic nationwide rollout
Walgreens is driving improved healthcare and retail experiences for customers and patients with a fully connected team.
The massive pharmacy chain is implementing Theatro across all 9,500+ stores, with the first 1,000 locations deployed in 2019. Theatro’s Mobile Communication Platform allows Walgreens’ associates to communicate with each other quickly and easily using Theatro’s AI-powered Intelligent Assistant. Using their voice, associates gain access to all the information they need to perform their role and deliver differentiated customer experiences while working “heads up & hands-free.”
Transforming the frontline experience
“As we transform our stores into modern neighborhood health destinations, it’s critical that we enable our store teams to enhance the experience for customers and patients. Technology solutions like Theatro allow us to communicate the changes we’re making directly and regularly with our team members, keeping them up-to-date and able to continue to offer great customer service,” said Richard Ashworth, President of Operations at Walgreens.
With a library of more than 80 Voice Apps, as well as a robust API to support third-party apps, Theatro’s platform allows associates to quickly and easily access the resources required to help a customer or complete a task. Store managers can gain more meaningful insights into critical customer service metrics, such as speed of service, to identify opportunities for store performance improvements.
“One of the largest challenges retail teams face is the disparate and ad hoc communication methods traditionally used to reach large numbers of store team members. Through our voice Intelligent Assistant and broad suite of workflow and collaboration apps, Walgreens is empowered to improve store execution and labor productivity by leveraging the power of AI native to our platform,” said Chris Todd, CEO at Theatro, a Motorola Solutions company.
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Learn how Theatro’s Intelligent Assistant can transform your retail frontline operations today.Frequently Asked Questions
Theatro is an AI-powered voice communication platform designed specifically for the frontline.
Unlike traditional walkie-talkies, which often create noise and require manual channel switching, Theatro uses small, hands-free wearable devices and an intelligent virtual assistant (TIVA) to connect your entire workforce.
This enables one-to-one, one-to-group and enterprise-wide communications while integrating with your existing business systems to automate workflows and provide real-time information directly to associates' ears.
Theatro empowers associates to remain "heads-up and hands-free." By using voice commands to access inventory data, request manager assistance or check order status, employees never have to leave the customer’s side to find answers or help.
This improves productivity, reduces "walk-to-talk" time, slashes response times for customer assistance requests and ensures your team is focused on delivering exceptional service rather than navigating fragmented systems.
Yes. Theatro leverages your existing enterprise Wi-Fi infrastructure, meaning there is no need for new, heavy network overhauls.
The platform is designed to be extensible, using APIs to integrate with your existing business systems—such as your inventory management, workforce management and point-of-sale (POS) systems—to deliver "closed-loop" workflows that automatically trigger alerts, task reminders and real-time operational updates.
Yes. Theatro serves as an effective extension of your loss prevention and safety strategies. Through instant, discreet push-to-talk communication, store teams can coordinate safely and quickly during suspicious incidents.
Additionally, the platform supports automated digital checklists and incident reporting, ensuring that high-risk areas are verified and that leadership is alerted immediately when safety or security protocols require attention.
Theatro drives ROI through a combination of cost avoidance and operational efficiency. By eliminating manual, time-consuming tasks (like overhead paging or searching for managers), stores see measurable labor gains—often realizing an average of 15% reduction in non-productive labor time.
Furthermore, as Theatro is offered as a subscription service, including hardware maintenance and automatic refreshes, you avoid heavy upfront capital expenses, allowing your investment to scale predictably with your business needs.