The rapid growth of Amazon Pharmacy will soon make instant access to drugs the new normal

It all started with books, when Jeff Bezos dreamed of modernizing the market and wanted to move away from the old concept of brick-and-mortar bookstores. The idea was quickly successful, and stores suddenly had to fight to claim their existence because they were faced with a new reality: consumers overwhelmingly preferred the convenience and ease of online shopping. Soon, this small success quickly spilled over into the world of retail, propagating Amazon into the e-commerce and consumer retail behemoth it is today.

Although the company had humble beginnings, over the past two decades, Amazon has created massive disruption in various industries and has truly changed and defined the practice of online retailing. Now, the company is trying to apply the same principles of convenience, affordability and accessibility to another old business: retail pharmacy.

In fact, it has already made significant progress in this field. Since its launch in 2020, Amazon Pharmacy has rapidly innovated the means by which customers can access pharmacy products in the easiest and most affordable ways. For example, last year, it announced a coupon program that provides automatic and significant discounts on certain drugs. It also announced that it will launch a drone delivery program, with the lofty goal of achieving 60-minute delivery times for prescription drugs. In addition, it has also made significant improvements in collaboration with Amazon One Medical, the company’s primary and virtual care service.

In its latest announcement last week, Amazon Pharmacy announced that it is opening pharmacies in 20 new cities by 2025, hoping to nearly double the number of communities where customers can take advantage of same-day drug delivery services. These cities include Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia and more, meaning millions of people will be able to enjoy faster drug access.

Dr. Wayne Gupta, Chief Medical Officer of Amazon Pharmacy, comments on what this expansion to 20 new cities will enable: “Speed ​​and convenience are hallmarks of the modern experience that patients will enjoy at Amazon Pharmacy… Especially as we approach the cold of winter, a quick delivery of medication like an anti-infective can mean the difference between a quick recovery at home or a long hospital stay.

Similar to what Amazon has done for books and more broadly for the retail industry as a whole, the company undoubtedly has an equally compelling opportunity with the pharmacy business. For nearly a century, consumers had to go to traditional retail pharmacies to buy their medications. It often takes a 3-5 day wait, on average, for prescription drugs to be prepared and dispensed. As recently as the last decade, these traditional pharmacies recognized the need to make this a more convenient process for customers, and introduced mail delivery. For example, among the most popular retail pharmacy chains, both Walgreens and CVS offer strong prescription and refill services through mail delivery.

But as with all things, the devil is in the details, and the customer experience really matters. To win this battle, Amazon Pharmacy leverages the principles and insights the company has gained from 20 years of unprecedented success in the retail business, and applies the rules of convenience and creating seamless customer journeys to the pharmacy business. does It’s a natural path for the company, especially since Amazon Pharmacy is a digital-first service, and therefore, doesn’t need to think about brick-and-mortar store performance or economies of scale. physical, customer. – Upfront facilities are often included. As John Levin, Amazon’s VP of Pharmacy explains, “We’re combining our clinical teams with Amazon’s leading engineers to help customers enjoy a simple checkout experience, with price clarity directly on our site. Cole, and a few words to jump in looking for attention.”

Additionally, Amazon already has an incredibly mature and advanced supply chain, fulfillment, logistics and delivery network—meaning the infrastructure it works with is incredibly strong. If Walgreens or CVS were to try and match same-day delivery at the same scale, they would need massive infrastructure and capital investment to do so.

Without a doubt, the company is slowly but surely creating a “new normal” with this work. The ability to deliver quickly and provide a digital-first customer experience creates a huge positive pressure that forces the industry (and other market players) to either innovate or embrace asymmetry. This push has introduced some healthy competition in this field. Both Walgreens and CVS have invested significant money in an effort to provide digital-first services for customers, including easy ordering capabilities and medication management while on their mobile applications. Walmart has invested significant resources to try and streamline its expedited fulfillment process, and has introduced several new programs to help make prescriptions more cost-effective for customers. Other non-traditional players, such as Instacart and DoorDash, are trying to get into the game by providing new ways to connect consumers with traditional pharmacy retailers. Other startups in the industry, such as GoodRx and Express Scripts, are quickly investing in their infrastructure to provide faster delivery and faster access. Time will tell which business models will ultimately succeed.

Although the world of retail pharmacy itself is more than a century old, the rapidly changing landscape of consumer expectations, growing market pressures created by bold innovation and vast opportunities introduced by leaps in technology have all It’s exciting and fast. So far developed industries.