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PALM BEACH, Fla. — When succession plans for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ chairmanship were disrupted by an executive change at Rite Aid earlier this year, the group was fortunate to have one of the industry’s most dynamic young leaders waiting in the wings. Mike Wysong, who had been slated to serve as
The consumer health care category has been a reliably strong performer throughout the pandemic years. According to Circana data, it outpaced inflation to grow from a $77 billion category in 2019 to $105 billion in 2022. E-commerce sales have been a major driver of that growth, nearly doubling over that time. In recent months, however,
Consumers have faced numerous challenges over the last year as the inflation rate continues to hover around 6% and job cuts became common amid fears of a potential recession. While inflation levels have come down from a peak of 9% in June 2022, prices remain high for goods like eggs, meat and cereal. As a
No topic in the world can get more lost in misunderstood jargon than when media team and customer teams for a supplier try to work together on a joint business plan. Acronyms abound in both functions and (candidly) too often different sides of this conversation try to set the agenda by making the work they
Empathy and compassion are two steps on the same path toward human connection. The first step is empathy. When we approach others with empathy, we approach them with an openness to learn and a curiosity about their experience. What are they feeling and why? What assumptions are we making about their inner lives that might
Shopper behavior is changing, rapidly. While only roughly 10% to 15% of transactions occur online, a whopping 60% of purchases are now influenced by digital channels, according to recent research by Forrester. “Digital influence” includes the influence of social media; retail e-commerce players such as Amazon, Walmart.com, Walgreens.com, and others; and the influence of digital
In 2022, pharmaceutical industry spend on linear TV ads fell for the first time in years by 4% year on year, according to data from Standard Media Index. Despite the growing adoption of over-the-top (OTT) video advertising — whose annual growth rate is estimated at 10.01% by 2027 — by many industries, over-the-counter and prescription
Americans are finally ready for the pharmacist as an over-the-counter consumer health influencer. COVID-19 has increased the importance of having the retail pharmacist recommendation in consumer health shopper marketing. During COVID-19, health care professionals were inundated with questions around how best to handle symptoms and to verify what O-T-C products or vaccines were safe. When
I’d venture to guess that none of my fellow pharmacists has ever heard a customer happily pay a co-payment for a prescription drug. But many patients might yearn for a simple co-payment compared to what they often face more today: large co-insurance obligations and high deductibles. Over the past decade, insurance companies have increasingly changed
The retail pharmacy industry is in flux. In post-pandemic America, chain, independent and online pharmacies are all fighting for shares of an increasingly volatile market. The question remains whether retail drug chains can find the right balance of convenience, personal care, and value to inspire patients and customers, creating a foundation for lasting success. Many
Pharmaceutical traceability is here. Are you ready? As an industry we have been working for 10 years to improve the quality and safety of the drug supply chain with the promise that serialization will prevent illegitimate, counterfeit, substandard and unapproved drugs from reaching patients. However, industry reports show that readiness is a mixed bag across
Let’s first get this straight — retail media networks (RMNs) aren’t new. They have been around for several years. But, like other aspects of the digital advertising ecosystem, they reappeared as consumers disappeared into their homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We first saw the potential of RMNs with Amazon’s success, which was quickly followed by
Sci-fi thrillers in the 1950s first introduced the phrase “Take me to your leader.” If extraterrestrials were to land in today’s U.S. drug chain universe, they would meet two leaders who only recently arrived on the scene and move fast. It might be hard to find them. Perhaps unimaginable a decade ago, the two major
Every for-profit business is in the business of serving customers. So, it stands to reason that we should all care about them and strive to serve them as well as we can. The better we are at meeting the needs of our customers, the more money they will spend with us and the less tempted
