Online Drugstore Bridges the Distances of this Country: Well.ca Provides Needed Health Supplies to Canadians in Remote and Rural Areas
Press Release
June 19, 2008
Guelph, Ontario - Canada’s largest online drugstore serving the needs of Canadians is filling a unique niche by bridging the distances of this country. Well.ca provides much needed medical and health supplies to those living in remote and rural areas.
Lee LaRose is the assistant lighthouse keeper at Boat Bluff - population 3 - located on Sarah Island along the rugged Northwest Coast of British Columbia. To get supplies, she has to phone stores in Prince Rupert and arrange for shipment by boat. Her orders usually take a month to be delivered.
But now through Well.ca, Lee can purchase what she needs online, including first aid products, vitamins and back braces. Because she knows these products will arrive in Prince Rupert in a few days, she is able to coordinate with the island’s helicopter service. Now she gets her drugstore items in less than a week. “That’s lightening speed when you’re living in an area where there are no stores, no doctors, and no pharmacies. The service is a godsend.”
Well.ca does not sell prescription drugs, but offers almost everything else you might find in a large drugstore. Customers can choose from more than 10,000 health, beauty and over-the-counter products. Shipping anywhere in Canada costs just $3 per order, and orders totalling $99 or more ship for free.
“We have more outlets than Shoppers Drug Mart or Pharma Plus,” jokes Ali Asaria, the founder and CEO of Well.ca. “We have a presence anywhere Canada Post delivers.”
Jennifer Eichenberg discovered Well.ca after moving from the Toronto area to an isolated island off of Baffin Island in Nunavut. She found the town’s two stores over-priced and under-stocked - for example, a tube of toothpaste can cost $8 or more. So she turned to Well.ca for its extensive selection and prices that are competitive with Canada’s major cities.
“Well.ca has a wide range of health products, and I can get makeup and girly products too,” Jennifer notes. “It definitely takes a bit of the remoteness out of living in Nunavut.”
Lorna Blackburn discovered Well.ca shortly after having a colostomy to treat colon cancer. Lorna lives in Arnprior, Ontario, a small community of 7,500. The local drugstore did not stock the colostomy bags she needs, and so she had to travel to Ottawa every month for the product - a round-trip drive of two hours.
“The prices on Well.ca are cheaper and it is so much easier to order online,” says Lorna. She also notes that, with rising gas prices, she is saving hundreds of dollars by being able to eliminate the drive.
“Our rural customers are delighted that they can still get local-store friendliness with a great selection and competitive prices,” Asaria notes.
It seems to be a winning formula. Well.ca now ships thousands of items per month. The website receives more than 100,000 hits a day, some 45,000 unique visitors go the site a month, and over 10,000 people have become registered customers.
For more information, contact:
Jaclyn Clare
PR POST
416-777-0368