By George Anderson
A piece in Crain's Chicago Business says the growth of mail order prescription services could pose a threat to Walgreen's corner store business model.
Mail order prescriptions represented 18.4% of the drugs sold in the country in 2002, up from 12.7% just five years earlier.
Alice Wachol, a principal at Deloitte Consulting in Detroit, said Walgreen is not alone in its battle for market share with mail-order prescription services.
"Retail pharmacies have been quietly fighting the mail-order battle for a long time," she said. The mail-order businesses "have an inherent advantage in terms of cost" according to Ms. Wachol.
Moderator's Comment: How big will the impact of maintenance drugs prescribed for chronic conditions have on how the pharmacy business is conducted in the years ahead?
It should be noted, as discussed in this space previously, Walgreen is being pretty aggressive, as are other traditional drugstores, in trying to build its own mail order business. - George Anderson - Moderator