Walmart, Amazon, and even Dollar General see healthcare as the next retail battleground

If you remember doctors’ house calls, you might be surprised to see what’s going on in the healthcare industry these days: it’s increasingly the last battleground for the grown-ups. retailers across the country.

From Walmart and Amazon to Dollar General, major national retailers are stepping up their healthcare business, both in person and online. These initiatives include expanded departments, independent stores, medical services, and just about every other function you previously had to go to a doctor, clinic, or emergency room. As such, they are getting closer and closer to the space now held by big pharmacy chains like Walgreen, CVS and Rite-Aid which are also expanding their healthcare service offerings … not to mention healthcare business. health care providers like clinics, doctors’ offices, and hospitals themselves. As a $ 3.6 trillion company, it looks like there is a lot of business to be done.

Perhaps there was no more evidence of how retailers view the healthcare segment as a tremendous growth opportunity than the announcement last week that Dollar General had hired its very first Chief Medical Officer. which will be responsible for expanding the retailer’s product and service offerings to its more than 17,400 stores. CEO Todd Vasos said, “Our goal is to create and improve affordable healthcare offerings for our customers, especially in the rural communities we serve.

Considering Dollar General’s reputation as a bastion of salty snacks, processed foods, and all sorts of things that are generally considered to be the other side of the health product line, this represents a major step forward for itself. repositioning in relation to drug chains and large discounters. The retailer is also rolling out fresh produce and meat to a small percentage of its stores, but says it could expand the program to 10,000 of its locations.

Obviously, the stakes keep rising in health care retailing. Last month, Walmart and Amazon added prescription drugs to their member benefit programs. Both retailers are offering heavily discounted prices on drugs in-store and online, creating an additional area of ​​competition between the two giants.

Walmart has been particularly aggressive in healthcare since launching Walmart Health, an in-store clinic in a rural Georgia store in 2019 and expanding the program to 15 locations late last year, along with seven more. planned for 2021. These stores offer check-ups, x-rays and even dental checks and come in addition to its pharmacy activity where it is already the third largest in the country. Walmart even recently started testing a chiropractic clinic in ten locations in partnership with The Back Space.

Scott Galloway, renowned NYU professor and darling of digital media, recently wrote, “Walmart has the scale and the incentive to make an impact (in healthcare). Rural Americans are on average closer to a Walmart than a hospital, and as the world’s largest private employer, Walmart’s health care costs are its biggest expense after wages.

Galloway says that Walmart and Amazon are fighting for retail dominance, “There are trillions of dollars of opportunity here. Amazon and Walmart are fighting the biggest proxy world in the business world: healthcare.

For Amazon, its Amazon Care program appears to be its primary vehicle in the healthcare industry. Originally launched as a program for its own employees 18 months ago, it is now expanding to the general public, replicating a strategy the company has used in other initiatives. The program has two components: an online virtual service with real-time communication with healthcare professionals via an app and an in-person service that can send doctors and caregivers home as well as dispense prescriptions. The online part is the one that will be rolled out nationwide this summer, while the in-person component is still being tested in selected markets.

Not that other retailers are sitting around watching these giants get away with it. Target is also stepping up its healthcare services as CVS and Walgreen continue to roll out in-store clinics. CVS now has 1,500 units in place following its acquisition of health insurance provider Aetna two years ago and rebranding as CVS Health. Walgreen expects to have 500 clinics in place over the next five years as it catches up. And other drug and dollar chains can be expected to see what’s going on and want to be a part of the action.

That all of this is playing out in the retail industry which is known for its bad health benefits for its workers is an irony that should not be lost on anyone. What is clear is that the competition will only intensify as the post-pandemic era sees people paying more attention to their health. Robert Field, professor of health policy and management at Drexel University, in a CNBC report summed it up well: “Healthcare is the next frontier in retail.”