Consumers today expect high-quality experiences, not just deals, and health care is no exception. In fact, consumers are demanding more from the third-largest industry in the United States by GDP. Yet as tech companies find new ways to enter the market, health care incumbents continue to fall behind.

Dara St. Louis

In January, Amazon launched RxPass, an inexpensive prescription service for Prime members. This move positioned Amazon to compete head to head with Walmart’s prescription service.

While retail pharmacies boast the advantages of established pharmacy brands and physical stores over their new, delivery-only counterparts, modern consumer expectations for service, speed and simplicity are higher than ever before. The gap between tech and health care continues to shrink, and retail pharmacies must invest in consumer-centric digital experiences if they want to remain competitive.

Here are three ways pharmacy retailers can meet a higher standard of customer experience.

• Deliver a streamlined digital experience to retain customers — As consumers expect a seamless experience in all aspects of digital life, they also seek to consolidate the number of apps they need to manage their health care. A recent report revealed that 90% of consumers want to use a single app for all of their health care needs, indicating that the industry must elevate its digital offerings if it wants to compete with tech giants like Amazon.

This condition also rings true for retail pharmacies, who can lean into consumer centricity to deliver exceptional experiences and earn loyalty. For example, developing an app with refill notification and order tracking features, as well as coupons, promotions and discounts for complementary products, can create an easier (and more affordable) shopping experience for customers. This increases the likelihood that they will stay within the pharmacy’s customer ecosystem.

A good digital experience is a complement to the in-person convenience that customers appreciate from retail pharmacies. This holistic experience opens new revenue channels and can help chains compete with tech-focused brands who tout low prices and convenience but can’t match the level of service, personalization and expertise that a retail pharmacy provides — especially as people age, develop new health conditions and have questions about contraindications and side effects.

• Focus on meeting the wants and needs of pharmacy customers —

Despite the gap in customer experience between virtual prescription services and established retail pharmacies, the latter must jump in head first and focus on people if they want to keep up. Pharmacy customers should have a one-stop shop for monitoring appointments, tracking individual health factors, accessing wellness information and advice, and purchasing the consumer health devices they need.

Between fitness and diet trackers, mental health and wellness apps, and competition from e-commerce retailers for consumer health devices, retail pharmacies should be able to meet all of these needs with their digital offering. This is an opportunity to diversify the range of services, products and knowledge that retail pharmacies can provide to their customers. Additionally, the insights gained through the pharmacy’s digital platform will enable them to continually elevate their offering and increase revenue ­incrementally.

It’s also important for retail pharmacies to note that the needs and preferences of users can vary by demographic. Some people may want to speak directly with a pharmacist to have their questions answered, while others would be more comfortable reading or watching a video overview. Similarly, some people might value the ability to track their heart, blood pressure and blood sugar vitals, while others want to see how many steps they took that day and if they’re hydrated enough.

Understanding the needs of the customer is one piece of the puzzle, and rising to meet those needs is another for pharmacies. Fortunately, pharmacy chains have the upper hand over their competition: They can integrate technology into their offering and leverage the existing expertise of pharmacists to create real, impactful connections and better long-term outcomes for their customers. Convenience alone can’t compete with that.

• Drive change with consumer-centric, privacy-first decisions — In order to deliver the best possible experience both inside and outside of the physical pharmacy, retail pharmacy brands must intimately get to know their customers. Where do they live? What is the ethnic makeup of their neighborhood? How old are they, and what are their most common health conditions?

Beyond traditional demographic data, retail pharmacies can use more granular insights to make decisions about how to reach their customers and create a sense of community with them. For example, Gen Z may be more likely to engage in short messenger conversational style chat surveys about trends, their daily activities and health goals, and personal preferences that give the pharmacy foresight about how to best serve that group of customers.

This customized approach is especially relevant due to the mounting data privacy concerns that consumers face today. Health information and data is sensitive, and in order to use consumer data to power improvements to their services, products and tools, retail pharmacies must gather it on a first-party basis. In other words, the data exchange between the pharmacy and the consumer needs to be consensual — and it’s much easier to foster that consensual exchange if you speak directly to your customers and tailor communications to them.

Gathering consumer insights enables retail pharmacies to learn about the wants, needs, key drivers and potential objections of their customers. They can then tailor and structure their digital offering and communications in a way that allows them to best connect with customers on an individual level without compromising privacy.

As consumer demand for ease, efficiency and economy in health care continues to rise, innovation in the retail pharmacy space must rise with it. There are macro changes afoot in all aspects of consumer behavior and expectations, so connections on an authentic, deeper level with customers — as well as willingness to adopt the technology that can make it possible — will make or break the success of retail pharmacy chains moving forward.

Dara St. Louis is founding partner and executive vice president of Reach3 ­Insights.