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This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

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Re: This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

#21

Post by manmal »

rwbcxrz wrote: post #12

I already have to worry about counterfeit electronics when ordering from Amazon. I’m not sure I’d trust them with prescriptions.

Also, with expensive drugs I would worry that counterfeits could be introduced within Amazon‘s warehouses by workers, or within the postal system. Open a package, extract the original, and put the counterfeit in. For drugs that are worth hundreds of dollars per package, why not?

I expect pharmacies to double check everything they buy, and I somehow doubt Amazon will be able to ensure safety when the package is handled by 10 different people. If they develop some kind of (digital?) package seal, I might change my mind. Or every pill container has an RFID chip and is verifiable with the supplier‘s public certificate.

Re: This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

#22

Post by snowpanda »

adventured wrote: post #6
analog31 wrote: post #3

It should be easy for Amazon to start delivering my meds: Convince my employer. Right now, I walk two blocks to Target for new prescriptions, and I'm required to buy any refills from Express Scripts. My clinic also has a pharmacy on site that I could use. I'm betting that refills (i.e., stuff that's taken chronically) is the bulk of the prescription drug business, but it would be interesting to know if that's true or…

I suspect Amazon isn't overly concerned with trimming the fat in this case (Walmart took out a lot of what was left of that when they entered the business). At break-even in pharmacy, while not trimming so much as a dollar of fat, Amazon benefits big. Here's how: - Increased shipping volume. This adds to their market leverage and it can bolster their own logistics business over time. Anything Amazon can do at scale,…

Totally agree with what you said. I'd like to add that another part of the break-even game is that often all it takes is for your competitor to take one step in the wrong direction, for you to become profitable.

When Blockbuster (for example) took on streaming to compete with Netflix, not only were they far too late, but they also charged a fee for movies. People didn't bother because Netflix had unlimited streaming. They also had a poor catalog if I recall correctly. Too many mistakes.

Re: This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

#23

Post by kgwgk »

dqdo wrote: post #15

I think that the Whole Foods acquisition now gives Amazon a physical footprint to compete with CVS, Rite-Aid, etc. Imagine ordering online and picking it up at a Whole Foods. After this step, they will find ways to fully by-pass the physical store and ship you medicine directly via Prime. There is a lot of money in the pharmacy business and a lot of opportunities for Amazon to enter this market and disrupt it. I don'…

To put it into context, Whole Foods has less than 500 stores, compared to 8200 and 9600 for Walgreens and CVS.

Re: This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

#24

Post by bamboozled »

k_sh wrote: post #16
rwbcxrz wrote: post #12

I already have to worry about counterfeit electronics when ordering from Amazon. I’m not sure I’d trust them with prescriptions.

The barrier of entry to pharmaceutical sales is a bit higher than electronics.

It shouldn't be, dodgy appliances can get you seriously injured or even killed. [1]

[1] http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1283818/woman-electro...

Re: This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

#26

Post by corporateguy5 »

amelius wrote: post #20

Ok, so this is what a winner-takes-all game looks like, and it is getting pretty boring. Can we now play a different game, please? We can start by turning Amazon into a utility.

But then it would turn into a slow government entity, all the talent will leave, and our economy would lose a great innovator.

Re: This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

#27

Post by yomly »

manmal wrote: post #21
rwbcxrz wrote: post #12

I already have to worry about counterfeit electronics when ordering from Amazon. I’m not sure I’d trust them with prescriptions.

Also, with expensive drugs I would worry that counterfeits could be introduced within Amazon‘s warehouses by workers, or within the postal system. Open a package, extract the original, and put the counterfeit in. For drugs that are worth hundreds of dollars per package, why not? I expect pharmacies to double check everything they buy, and I somehow doubt Amazon will be able to ensure safety when the package is handle…

IIRC in The Everything Store, Stone recalled how Jewellery was a struggle because of its high value to weight ratio. Pharmaceuticals will probably be a similar problem, but I'm sure Amazon will have a process built in to manage for this if they chose to move into the area

Re: This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

#28

Post by aomix »

Ice_cream_suit wrote: post #25

I know the ex-CEO of a generic pharmaceutical firm. Drugs that are wholesaled at $100 are discounted by the firm to around $25$. There is much profit for Amazon to harvest.

I worked at a distributor throughout college and the week a drug went generic was party time. The company would ship more of a recently genericized drug in that week than they had until that point. Dropping to ~25% the original price is the average but sometimes it would be 10% or less.

Re: This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

#29

Post by amelius »

corporateguy5 wrote: post #26
amelius wrote: post #20

Ok, so this is what a winner-takes-all game looks like, and it is getting pretty boring. Can we now play a different game, please? We can start by turning Amazon into a utility.

But then it would turn into a slow government entity, all the talent will leave, and our economy would lose a great innovator.

> But then it would turn into a slow government entity

Public utilities are not necessarily government entities; they can be privately owned.

> all the talent will leave, and our economy would lose a great innovator

That talent could work at universities again, so everybody would benefit more evenly from innovation.

Re: This Is How Amazon Could Invade the Pharmacy Business

#30

Post by tyingq »

kgwgk wrote: post #23
dqdo wrote: post #15

I think that the Whole Foods acquisition now gives Amazon a physical footprint to compete with CVS, Rite-Aid, etc. Imagine ordering online and picking it up at a Whole Foods. After this step, they will find ways to fully by-pass the physical store and ship you medicine directly via Prime. There is a lot of money in the pharmacy business and a lot of opportunities for Amazon to enter this market and disrupt it. I don'…

To put it into context, Whole Foods has less than 500 stores, compared to 8200 and 9600 for Walgreens and CVS.

Whole Foods also doesn't currently have a pharmacy, unlike many other grocery chains.
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