storewanderer wrote: ↑January 19th, 2024, 1:14 am
I am reading in the CVS Reddit some of these Target units did extremely low volumes, like under 100 prescriptions a day. That is unreal to me with what I know and see of CVS always backed up. A busy CVS does practically 100 prescriptions in an hour (okay not that many, but it sure feels like it). No wonder they want out of these. I'd love to find that CVS that does under 100 prescriptions a day, the service must be excellent.
I am not sure just how important pharmacy is to Target, at this point in time.
I know Wal Mart and Fred Meyer run extremely high volume pharmacies. I can't speak for Meijer. So it seems like pharmacy is kind of an important component of this type of store. But maybe Target's overall offer is strong enough that pharmacy doesn't matter.
It just seems like with the foot traffic Target has, they should be able to have a successful/busy pharmacy.
CVS strips the staffing out of these stores so they still wind up giving a bad experience. They also do not stock all of the drugs, leaving the customer having to wait for orders to come in. The last time I used a CVS at Target specifically I had a nasty upper respiratory infection. They said they had to order an ordinary albuterol inhaler as they never stock them at that location, and they were staffed with only the pharmacist and a pharmacy student in their University lab coat was the technician and the cashier. Of course they recommended that I go to a different CVS nearby that had the inhaler in stock. My perception has been that at least in SoCal the Target pharmacies did very good business and we know they were profitable based on the high purchase price CVS paid. The relationship between the companies was bad from the start, there is a severe cultural misfit between the brands, and the CVS standard of creating very bad service models meant that they were doomed from the beginning.
Customers were going to Target pharmacy to avoid CVS and other bad actors. Target advertising made this clear as they bragged about friendly and knowledgeable service plus the easy to use technology like their fancy pill bottle that CVS immediately killed to save a few pennies per order. The arrival of CVS meant that the customers who went to Target to avoid CVS would find a new pharmacy. I know a lot of people who will stand in a long line at Costco pharmacy because they are easier to work with. You call and a real human picks up the phone in the actual store pharmacy every single time and doesn't place you on hold. They have the same staff so they get to know you, while CVS you never see the same person twice behind the counter except maybe the pharmacist. Their insurance works at Costco or CVS, but they drive right past a CVS or two with drive through service because they feel like they're a number at CVS but a valued customer at Costco. I take my elderly aunt to get her prescriptions at Costco, her insurance is zero co pay for most, and we drive past 4 CVS locations because the Costco pharmacy folks are so nice and their knowledge of the customer makes them more efficient... They see she's next in line and they already have grabbed her items off the shelf.
CVS failed at Target because they did not understand what they were buying; a group of pharmacies serving customers who were looking for better service than what CVS provides.