Rite Aid retail drug chain connects 4,000 stores nationwide. multicast network with Back Web server software, Starburst Multicast, OmniCast file transfer software - drug retailer implements Internet protocol IP - Company Operations

Communications News, March, 1999

Rite Aid Corp., a chain of some 4,000 drug stores with over $11.4 billion in annual sales, is using an Internet protocol (IP) multicast network to send weekly product updates, employee training videos, and pharmacy promotion data from its corporate headquarters directly to its pharmacists' and store managers' PCs.

Kent Whiting, senior vice president of information services of Rite Aid, says, "Combining our BackWeb information system with StarBurst multicast technology, we have created an ideal information delivery solution that speeds data to individual stores, saving time, money, and network bandwidth."

With a joint software solution from Starburst's electronic information delivery products--multicast file transfer protocol (MFTP), Starburst Multicast and OmniCast--and Back Web Technologies' intranet, extranet, and Internet information delivery applications, Rite Aid has an effective one-to-many, enterprise-wide information delivery solution that sends any type of data file--real-time audio and video--in a single bandwidth transmission, eliminating multiple point-to-point transfers. Says Whiting, "With a reliable information delivery solution, we no longer worry whether the information was delivered intact to each location. We know it has been delivered." As Rite Aid actively acquires other chains--such as the recent integration of 1,300 stores from Thrifty Payless, K&B, and Harco and the construction of over 500 stores in the past year--speed, reliability, and cost effectiveness are crucial.

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