Amazon opens onto a vast pharmaceutical market, launching an online delivery service of medical supplies in 45 States, the members of Prime get free two-day shipping. Shares of us pharmacy chains fell.
Amazon (AMZN) on Tuesday launched the Amazon Pharmacy is an online pharmacy that provides online ordering and delivery of prescribed medication for people with insurance and without.
The launch comes at an opportune time, as the pandemic COVID-19 buyers tend to change their habits: of medications at physical pharmacies where there are risks of infection, on purchases in online pharmacies.
Online pharmacy Amazon Pharmacy will be available this week in 45 States, not including Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Minnesota, where the launch will happen later. The company States that it works with all major insurance companies.
On the news of the appearance of such a large competitor as Amazon stock American drugstore chains fell sharply. Shares traditional pharmacies CVS and Walgreens fell by 8.6% and 10.7%, respectively, shares of Walmart (WMT) also fell 2% as the company with the largest network of physical supermarkets in the United States also placed pharmacies in its supermarkets. The company’s shares GoodRx, a service which helps consumers find discounts on prescription drugs fell by 22.5%.
Amazon shares, an increase of 69.7 percent from the beginning of the year, on Tuesday rose slightly.
Amazon Pharmacy will be another big plus for clients with an annual subscription to Prime because they get free two-day shipping on medicines. According to the statement CEO Amazon Jeff Bezos, in January the number of Prime members has reached 150 million people (a number equivalent to almost half of the population of the United States).
“We think that this new advantage will bring huge benefits to our members,” said Jamil Ghani, Vice President of Amazon Prime. “This is true because people are trying to do more from the comfort of home”.
Amazon Prime members will receive discounts on some
generic drugs thanks to the cooperation of Amazon with a savings program Inside Rx.
Additionally, Prime customers can also get a bonus card benefit card, which can be used at 50,000 pharmacies including CVS, Walmart, Rite Aid and Walgreens. According to the company, this can be useful for customers who urgently need medications and who are unable to wait for two days.
Additional advantages Amazon Pharmacy are:
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order history in accounts and data on medicines;
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consultation pharmacists 24/7;
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in addition, the Amazon Pharmacy pharmacists check orders for the safety of simultaneous use of drugs.
Customers that do not have a Prime subscription, you can get free shipping for five days, or pay $5.99 for a two-day delivery.
Amazon also said that it will not abandon its business PillPack (acquired in 2018) as this service is designed to deliver packets of drugs each day to 30-day schedule.
T. J. Parker, Vice President of Amazon in the pharmaceutical industry, which previously was co-founder of PillPack said storing and collecting information on the health status of clients within Amazon Pharmacy will comply with Federal HIPAA regulations, and the company does not transmit pharmacies to advertisers or marketers without your permission.
Parker said that Amazon currently there are no usual pharmacies, and declined to disclose further plans. However, Amazon owns a chain of stores Whole Foods and stores Amazon Fresh, which can add to the pharmacy or the cell for collection of medicines.
Online pharmacy Amazon Pharmacy is the largest promotion company on the market with a turnover of $300 billion, its competitive advantages threaten the dominance of traditional pharmacies in that market.
