With more than 258.1 million total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and an estimated 40 million flu vaccinations being dispensed seasonally in retail pharmacies, U.S. consumers have become accustomed to — and very comfortable with — the idea of providing health services. received at their local pharmacies, according to the JD Power 2022 US Pharmacy Study released today.
The evolution towards health and wellness services — in addition to medication management — could hold the key to the future of the retail pharmacy industry as it faces growing threats from online retailers, JD Power said.
“Customers are beginning to embrace their retail pharmacy as a hub for a wide variety of routine health and wellness services,” said Christopher Lis, managing director, global healthcare intelligence at JD Power. “This transformation is happening concurrently with increasing competition from online retailers” such as Amazon, which is increasing its commitment to local pharmacies. This is an opportunity for more retail pharmacies to innovate as a one-stop shop for routine care and to use data and technology to create an increasingly personalized customer experience.”
[Read more: These chains topped J.D. Power’s 2021 rankings as 51% of shoppers used pharmacy health services]
Here are some of the key findings from the 2022 study:
- Customers are interested in routine health care services in their pharmacies: Of the pharmacy customers interested in receiving routine health care services, 33% are interested in vision and hearing services and 27% are interested in physical exams and routine lab tests at their local pharmacies. However, most customers recognize that their pharmacies do not currently offer these services.
- Use of health and wellness services associated with higher loyalty and brand advocacy: On average, 52% of customers who rely on their pharmacies for health and wellness services say they will not switch pharmacies. This compares to just 45% of those who have not used their pharmacy’s health and wellness services. Similarly, Net Promoter Scores are 14 points higher when customers use health and wellness services.
- Beware of Amazon: Nearly two-thirds (66%) of brick-and-mortar pharmacy customers currently have an Amazon Prime account, and nearly half (48%) of pharmacy customers are aware of the pharmacy services offered by Amazon. To date, 14% of those who are aware of Amazon’s Pharmacy Services have used Pill Pack filled through Amazon Pharmacy. Of that group, 38% say they “definitely will” change pharmacy in the next 12 months.
- Mobile apps can become the battleground of prescription management: of brick-and-mortar customers using their pharmacy’s mobile app, 59% use the app to manage prescription refills and 57% use the app to view prescriptions. Overall satisfaction among those who have used their pharmacy’s mobile app six or more times in the past 12 months is 715 (on a 1000-point scale), which is 32 points higher than those who have used the app up to five times used. Frequent app users are also less likely to say they will switch pharmacy providers.
[Read more: NACDS, 93 groups urge continued access to pandemic-related services at pharmacies]
JD Power has also released its Study Rankings:
- For the sixth consecutive year, Pharmacy Good Neighbor ranks highest among brick-and-mortar drugstore pharmacies with a score of 740. Health Mart (723) is in second place and Walgreens in third place (660).
- Sam’s Club ranks among the brick-and-mortar pharmacies for mass merchandise for the seventh consecutive year, with a score of 759. Costco (749) is in second place and CVS Pharmacy inside Target (713) is in third place.
- HEB has the highest score of the physical supermarket pharmacies for the second consecutive year with a score of 785. Wegmans (754) is in second place and Publix (747) in third place.
- Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy ranks highest in the mail order segment, with a score of 734. CenterWell (formerly Humana Pharmacy) (699) is in second place and OptumRx (694) in third.
View the rankings for each segment here.
The US Pharmacy Study, now entering its 14th year, has been redesigned for 2022. It measures customer satisfaction with brick-and-mortar pharmacies and mail-order pharmacies. The 2022 survey is based on responses from 12,142 pharmacy customers who filled a prescription in the past 12 months and was completed from September 2021 through May 2022.