Amazon continues to lead in e-commerce and is now venturing into the offline model within the retail industry, with the opening of its first physical pharmacy. This store also offers customers beauty and personal care products.
Martin Heubel, Strategist and Consultant at Amazon, announced this recent opening through his LinkedIn account.
This new store and pharmacy is located in the heart of Milan, Italy, where customers can explore a wide range of beauty and personal care products from leading brands such as Eucerin, La Roche Posay, and Vichy. According to Heubel, these brands typically do not sell their premium product lines through online retailers.
According to the expert, the opening of this first pharmacy is an indicator of Amazon‘s ambition and plans to expand its presence in the health, personal care, and beauty categories, where physical retail plays a crucial role in building trust, credibility, and loyalty.
“Given that many premium brands prefer selective distribution, operating a pharmacy aims to unlock a new selection and capture a larger share of the beauty market,” he explained.
In early 2023, Amazon faced challenges in its foray into the retail sector through its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh business models. The results obtained by the company with these formats did not meet projections, leading to the closure of some of its physical stores in the United States, as well as a halt on new openings in the country. Instead, the company shifted its focus to the Whole Foods chain, which it acquired in 2017.
However, a couple of months later, the company announced its interest in expanding its Amazon Fresh supermarket network in the United States, along with the redesign of five establishments.
Pharmaceutical Retail on the Rise in Mexico
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), the increased demand for products such as supplements and other complements to prescribed medications has boosted the pharmaceutical retail sector in Mexico. Data from the institute shows that around 20% of the more than 65,000 pharmacy chain establishments in the country operated in a mini-supermarket format in 2023.
As part of this sector, Farmacias del Ahorro is one of the fastest-growing companies nationwide. By the end of 2023, it reported a total of 1,700 branches, 200 more than in 2022.
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