Amazon has done it again. Thursday, the company announced it had reached an agreement to acquire online pharmacy Pillpack for $1 billion and potentially disrupt the healthcare industry – for real. In doing so, the company overshadows the CVS announcement last week that it now offers prescription delivery across the US.
Companies across the retail spectrum are in a race to boost their order fulfillment and delivery capabilities, primarily driven by consumer expectations shaped by Amazon and its Prime program.
Drug chains are no exception. Last week, CVS became the first of the national chains to offer prescription delivery nationwide, while it also expanded same-day delivery to Boston, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and DC (nationwide delivery is a one to two day operation). Standard delivery will run customers $4.99 with expedited service in same-day cities costing more.
But just as CVS was celebrating this significant accomplishment, news broke Thursday that Amazon has reached a deal to acquire PillPack, an online pharmacy that does what online businesses do – delivers its products (in this case prescription drugs) to customers’ homes.