A brand new report from J.D. Powers signifies shoppers have their favourite retail pharmacies and don’t typically change pharmacies. Now in its fifteenth yr, the U.S. pharmacy examine gauges buyer satisfaction with brick-and-mortar and mail-order pharmacies.
For the eighth consecutive yr, Sam’s Membership garnered the very best buyer satisfaction rating for pharmacy companies amongst its retailer friends with a rating of 788. At 755, Costco got here in second, CVS inside Goal ranked third at 698 and Walmart supercenter pharmacies ranked fourth with a rating of 675, greater than 100 factors behind its sister firm Sam’s Membership.
Within the grocery store class, the report discovered H-E-B ranked first in buyer satisfaction for the third consecutive yr with a rating of 760. The highest 5 grocery pharmacies additionally included Wegmans Meals Markets (753), Publix (744) and Walmart Neighborhood Market (731). The smaller grocery format for Walmart scored greater than 50 factors increased than its supercenter pharmacies.
Good Neighbor Pharmacy ranked highest amongst brick-and-mortar chain drugstore pharmacies for the seventh straight yr, scoring 793. Well being Mart (770) got here in second and Ceremony Assist Pharmacy was third at 680. The survey discovered CVS was fourth with a rating of 651 and Walgreens rounded out the highest 5 at 643.
Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy ranked highest within the mail order phase, with a rating of 748, Amazon-owned PillPack ranked second at 709 and Categorical Scripts Pharmacy got here in third with a rating of 699. My Humana Pharmacy was fourth with a rating of 697 and Walmart mail companies scored 675 for fifth place on this class.
Whereas general satisfaction within the mail-order pharmacy phase rose 9 factors this yr, the survey discovered buyer loyalty is lowering. About 20% of mail-order prospects stated they “undoubtedly will” or “most likely will” swap pharmacies within the subsequent 12 months, up from 14% final yr. The highest causes for switching included employer insurance coverage requiring a change (31%), remedy being too costly (24%), and a need for versatile pickup choices (21%).
“As pharmacies proceed to tackle a extra vital function in well being care supply and ongoing care administration, the pharmacist has change into a vital hyperlink within the healthcare continuum,” stated Christopher Lis, managing director of worldwide well being care intelligence at Troy, Mich.-based J.D. Energy. “Prospects are rewarding pharmacies that ship customized service, together with interactions the place communications happen on a first-name foundation and when the pharmacist is offered to reply questions.”
Regardless of the pharmacy’s evolution to an omnichannel hub of healthcare companies and digital instruments, private interactions with employees are nonetheless very important to lasting buyer satisfaction. The examine discovered that brick-and-mortar pharmacies are delivering on customized service, resulting in a six-point rise in general buyer satisfaction this yr on a 1,000-point scale. Customers utilizing mail order had a better chance of switching suppliers regardless of their general satisfaction with mail order.
Different findings within the survey embody general satisfaction is 102 factors increased amongst prospects who stated they know their pharmacist by identify and 93 factors increased amongst those that stated they know pharmacy employees or technicians by identify.
Total, 83% of brick-and-mortar pharmacy prospects expressed curiosity in receiving well being and wellness companies at their pharmacy. Probably the most requested companies are flu photographs (50%), well being screenings (46%) and COVID testing (42%), the survey stated.
Extra shoppers are additionally utilizing digital applied sciences to work together with their brick-and-mortar pharmacies. Final yr 76% of shoppers stated they relied on digital expertise to speak with their pharmacies on refills and different companies. This yr that quantity rose to 81% of shoppers.