Best Buy's exclusive telehealth launch sets it on collision course with Amazon

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US electronics retailer Best Buy joined forces with Israel-based telehealth company TytoCare to offer TytoHome devices exclusively on Best Buy's website and in select stores in Minnesota.

For $300, Best Buy customers can now purchase the handheld examination device - which enables remote diagnoses of medical issues like ear infections, fevers, allergies, upper respiratory infections, and rashes - and consult a primary care provider anytime, anywhere.

Here's what it means: The new collaboration bodes well for both Best Buy and TytoCare.

• Best Buy strengthens its digital health offerings - an area its pinned as key for future growth. Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly has said that the electronics retailer sees health and wellness as a strategic area for growth. Partnering with TytoCare builds out Best Buy's portfolio of digital health devices it can market to consumers: Best Buy also acquired emergency response system services provider GreatCall for $800 million in August 2018.
• And TytoCare benefits from Best Buy's massive retail footprint and brand name. TytoHome will be offered in Best Buy stores across six states by June, and national expansion is also in the cards, TytoCare VP of Business Development and Partnerships Meni Shikhman shared with Business Insider Intelligence. This offers TytoCare a substantial revenue opportunity: 70% of people in the US live within 15 minutes of a Best Buy store.

The bigger picture: Best Buy's deepening healthcare play sets the retailer on a collision course with Amazon - but each will have to lean on their respective healthcare strengths to win.

• Best Buy's physical footprint and in-home services likely give it the edge with older healthcare consumers. Best Buy has been piloting an in-home health monitoring service for seniors since at least May 2018. And Best Buy offers in-home installation and face-to-face healthcare services - services Amazon lacks, which could help Best Buy secure a foothold in the robust senior healthcare market: The US 65-and-older population is projected to nearly double from 49 million in 2018 to 95 million by 2060.
• And Amazon's using its e-commerce platform to build out a healthcare ecosystem replete with medical devices and prescription delivery. Amazon rolled out exclusive lines of over-the-counter health products in February 2018 and medical devicesto manage diabetes and hypertension in October 2018. Amazon will likely meld these products with its pharmacy acquisition to roll out a "Prime Health" service, offering consumers a greater breadth of health services than Best Buy can.

While Best Buy's physical footprint will help stave off Amazon in the near term, Amazon can use Alexa to erode Best Buy's competitive edge. Amazon will dip into senior-focused remote care with its Alexa voice assistant, which recently earned HIPAA compliance, for instance.

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