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Drugstores in the US are grappling with the rise of online startups looking to make it more convenient to pick up your pills.
- The $335 billion pharmacy business is ripe for disruption.
- From big retail pharmacies like CVS Health and Walgreens to independent pharmacies, drugstores in the US are grappling with the rise of online startups looking to make it more convenient to pick up your pills.
- Online giants like Amazon pose a big threat to the stores, too.
- Read on to see how eight pharmacy startups are looking to win a piece of the massive prescription-drug industry.
- Click here for more BI Prime stories.
According to federal data, the US pharmacy market is a $335 billion business.
The massive market has attracted no shortage of startups looking to win customers with new approaches hoping to make it easier to dispense and deliver medications.
While pharmacies have been delivering prescriptions to patients for decades, the startups are betting that technology can help them expand their reach and offer a better experience for patients.
The startups still make up a relatively small piece of the US's massive market prescription-drug market. Pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens, for instance, make hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. And numerous delivery-based startups have tried to crack the market only to close or shift strategies.
The startups aren't the only ones tapping into the convenience of delivery. Both Walgreens and CVS Health, the two largest pharmacy chains in the US, offer prescription delivery. In light of the mounting threat of the novel coronavirus in the US, CVS Health said Monday that it will waive charges for home delivery of medications.
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Business Insider took a look at some of the pharmacy startups looking to make getting prescriptions more convenient. We focused on startups that own a pharmacy, owned a pharmacy, or place an emphasis on delivery. The core business has to be dispensing and delivering drugs, and we didn't include models that also involve connecting patients with virtual doctor's visits.
Read on to see how the startups are looking to shake up the way we get our prescription drugs.
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