• by Les Luchter , July 31, 2024

Consumers are increasingly finding trust and reliability through pharmacies other than brick-and-mortar drug stores, especially chains, according to J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Pharmacy Study.

Satisfaction with what the research firm still labels as “mail order” pharmacies rose six points (on a 1,000-point scale) since last year’s study, while long wait times and difficulty in ordering prescriptions resulted in a continuing slide for chain store brick-and-mortar pharmacies.  Even the top-performing brick-and-mortar stores saw 10-point declines year-over-year, J.D. Power said.

A positive result for brick-and-mortar outlets was that 89% of their customers -- termed a “significant positive change” by the researcher -- understood explanations given by pharmacists. But just 51% said they trusted those explanations.

Christopher Lis, J.D. Power’s managing director of global healthcare intelligence, said brick-and-mortar locations can still keep pace with mail order pharmacies if consumers gain familiarity with their local pharmacists. “Customers need pharmacies to deliver on convenience, reliability and trust, and mail order and digital pharmacies are working to meet those expectations.”

J.D. Power defines digital pharmacies as those not associated with brick-and-mortar pharmacies nor required by insurance plans.

Reporting that 52% of consumers are now aware of digital pharmacies, most notably Amazon Pharmacy, Lis said that brick-and-mortar stores risk losing even more market share as awareness of online pharmacies keeps increasing and as “consumers understand how they work and determine that many accept their insurance.”

Among different pharmacy types, Good Neighbor was tops in chain drugstores for the eighth straight year, followed by Health Mart, Rite Aid and Walgreens. CVS landed In fifth place, but below the segment average.

CVS pharmacies found in Target stores also ranked below the segment average for mass merchandiser chain stores, where Sam’s Club led for the ninth straight year, followed by Costco.

CVS Caremark kept up the bad news for the healthcare giant, falling below the segment average in the mail order segment. Amazon was the clear leader in this category, with its PillPack coming in first, followed by Amazon Pharmacy in second.  Last year’s leader Kaiser Permanente fell to third place. Also above the segment average: CenterWell and Express Scripts.

Publix replaced H-E-B atop of the brick-and-mortar supermarket rankings, falling to third place, with ShopRite moving into second. Other supermarkets surpassing the segment average were Fry’s, Wegmans, Walmart Neighborhood Market and Albertsons.

The U.S. Pharmacy Study, now in its 16^th year, based on responses from 13,505 pharmacy customers who filled a prescription within the past 12 months, was conducted from September 2023 through May 2024.