BUSINESS IDEAS
Industry Experts Offer Big Ideas Existing challenges are likely to continue, but bold thinking will provide opportunity By Mark Hamstra
Left to right: Sean Burke, a retail industry lead and associate partner, Clarkston Consulting; Eyad Farah, president of McKesson’s Health Mart and Health Mart Atlas; Inna Kuznetsova, CEO, 1010data; George Van Antwerp, managing director, Deloitte Consulting; and Leslie Lotano-Saba, vice president of pharmacy solutions, AArete
The challenges facing retail pharmacy, including increasing competition from e-commerce players and the need to drive store visits, are expected to linger through 2022 and beyond. In addition, drug store operators are faced with immediate challenges around the tight labor market, as many workers may have either dropped out of the workforce or found employment that does not involve interacting with the public, said Julie Utterback, senior equity analyst, healthcare,
at Morningstar Research Services. As a result, retailers may be paying higher wages, which could impact profit margins, she said. “In terms of opportunities, we see many major retail pharmacies, like CVS and Walgreens, broadening their offerings into healthcare services, which we view positively,” Utterback said. “Continued growth in services could increase the productivity of their ubiquitous store footprints — an area of differentiation for the retailers versus local primary care
physicians and competing managed care organizations — and make the stores an even more integral part of the U.S. healthcare system.” If foot traffic declines as the COVID19 pandemic eases, retailers could benefit from accelerating the pace of transitioning their stores to provide more healthcare services, she said. Following are some other big ideas from industry experts about how retail pharmacies can prepare for the future.
DRUGSTORENEWS.COM March 2022
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