Amazon's Prescription Delivery Service Threatens Drug Stores' Existence

A new service from Amazon that delivers your drug prescriptions within an hour could spell trouble for brick-and-mortar pharmacies, which are increasingly facing closures and low profits during the digital age.

Amazon Pharmacy will be launching the service in College Station, Texas, as the company tests out its drone delivery performance.

"We're taught from the first days of medical school that there is a golden window that matters in clinical medicine," Dr. Vin Gupta, chief medical officer of Amazon Pharmacy, said.

"That's the time between when a patient feels unwell and when they're able to get treatment. We're working hard at Amazon to dramatically narrow the golden window from diagnosis to treatment, and drone delivery marks a significant step forward. Whether it's an infectious disease or respiratory illness, early intervention can be critical to improving patient outcomes."

Around 500 medications are available for delivery within the hour, mainly for those dealing with common sicknesses like the flu and asthma.

There's also a 24/7 virtual Amazon Clinic operating, which provides treatment for 35 conditions, as well as the company's hybrid primary care clinic One Medical.

The expansion into prescription delivery happened after Amazon acquired the primary healthcare provider One Medical in a deal valued at $3.9 billion last year.

To be eligible for prescription drone delivery, customers must use Prime Air and complete a yard survey. To secure fast and easy delivery, those residing in College Station just need to opt for free drone delivery in less than 60 minutes.

The drones will then get the prescription to your door at an altitude between 40 and 120 meters.

Amazon said its drones have built-in technology to avoid all in-air obstacles, like people, pets and other buildings. The company also completed hundreds of successful deliveries in the same location when it tested the service in December of last year.

Amazon told Newsweek that Prime Air polling found that among existing customers, medications were at the top of the list of items they wanted for fast delivery.

Other areas where you can get same-day prescription deliveries include Indianapolis, Miami, Phoenix, Seattle and Austin, Texas, as long as you have an "acute health need," according to the company.

"We're making the process of getting the acute and chronic medications customers need easier, faster, and more affordable," John Love, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy, told Newsweek. "Rapid delivery changes the prescription delivery paradigm from days to minutes and represents a dramatic improvement over what patients are used to."

Still, some shoppers who note the improvements of this service from other pharmacy services are still concerned about the potential safety of a prescription delivered to their door by drone.

"It's actually a pain in the butt to go pick up some prescriptions because you can't always fill them at a CVS or Walgreens so Amazon pharmacies with drone delivery take away that middle ground," shopper Emma Rosenberg told Newsweek.

"It would be a little scary because someone could potentially steal it? AI/drones aren't free of human error."

Amazon says they have pharmacists available 24/7 to answer all questions from patients. The company also earned a Federal Aviation Administration air carrier certificate, which is required to operate drones with advanced capabilities.

Impact On Drug Stores

Another potential fallback of Amazon offering such a speedy and convenient prescription service is the potential impact it has on brick-and-mortar pharmacies and drug stores, which have already been falling under the pressure of shifting pandemic-era shopping habits.

CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid have all been involved in the closing of thousands of stores across the nation.

Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, signaling the start of the chain closing between 400 and 500 stores. The drugstore giant previously held a $3.3 billion debt after facing extensive legal fees for its alleged role in the opioid epidemic.

Walgreens and CVS have likewise faced challenges as pharmacist and technician employees walk out of stores due to low pay and unfair expectations.

Even before the current challenges, CVS closed 244 stores between 2018 and 2020, and 900 new closures will hit the chain between 2021 and 2024.

And Walgreens announced plans to shutter at least 350 stores since 2019. Increased incidents of retail theft aren't helping, but Amazon's arrival on the scene exacerbated the situation.

Amazon emerged as a competitor for these chains in the early 2000s, offering both food and household staples alongside prescriptions delivered to your door with ease. For shoppers who wanted to avoid driving and picking up their items in person, that was a huge competitive advantage for Amazon.

Even Walmart has struggled to keep up with the allure of online shopping, already closing at least 22 locations this year. The pandemic shifted the modern consumer to prefer remote, convenient pickup or delivery in order to avoid crowds, and in some ways, the preference has stuck.

Over the course of 1980 to 2022, the number of independent pharmacies decreased by 50 percent, with the majority of closures affecting low-income neighborhoods.

But in terms of Amazon's view of its impact on brick and mortars?

Due to the limited same-day pharmacy delivery availability across the United States, the company still sees the physical storefront as the number one option for the majority of customers who need prescriptions immediately.

"Drone delivery is a great option for customers in College Station who may want to stay home and manage their care," a representative for Amazon told Newsweek. "For many customers, the pharmacy on the corner is still going to be the best option for acute needs."

Update 10/23/23, 4:32 p.m. ET: This article was updated to clarify Amazon's same-day delivery service.