Carol Spieckerman's Right Brain on...Dollar Stores' Pharma Forays

In her latest contribution as a Retail Wire panelist, Carol comments on dollar stores' (she thinks inevitable) forays into pharmacy.

Here's what she had to say..

When Walmart announced the Walmart Express format launch, I saw pharmacy and site-to-store as its major points of differentiation against dollar stores. I guess we can cross one of those off of the list. Given dollar stores' massive scale, drug stores have plenty to be worried about, but they are getting hit on all sides. One reason why drug stores are doing their own version of "the blur" by expanding further into food, prestige beauty, etc. Until others' small formats start spreading, dollar stores will grab pharmacy market share. Scale plus convenience equals a powerful advantage.

Read the rest of the discussion

What's in it for Walmart and others? Read Carol's article on Walmart's Pick, Price, and Push strategy from Walmart SVP of Health & Wellness, John Agwunobi's presentation.