Walmart moves into Rx delivery as retailers race to capitalize on the pharma-chain crisis

Prescription tracker… Walmart launched prescription-drug deliveries in six US states yesterday and said it plans to widen the program to 49 states by the end of January (North Dakota has restrictions). By that time, America’s largest retailer says its 4.6K US stores with pharmacies will allow it to deliver to 86% of households in as quickly as 30 minutes. The move keeps the rollback retailer in step with its arch nemesis, Amazon, which has also been widening its med-delivery business.

• More, dashed: Customers can tack their prescriptions onto larger Walmart orders like groceries, home goods, or bikes. The Rx delivery service costs $10, but is free for Walmart+ subscribers.

• Copycat: It didn’t take long for Walmart to match its rival’s prescription maneuver. Amazon said this month it’ll grow its same-day script-delivery biz to 20 cities — covering 45% of US customers — by the end of next year.

• Getting healthy: 12% of Walmart’s US revenue comes from health and wellness, a fraction compared to groceries’ share of 60%. Earlier this year, Walmart shuttered all 51 of its health clinics and its telehealth biz.

Pharm-upheaval… Walmart and Amazon are both jumping into the scripts biz as retail pharmacy experiences some extreme side effects. A mix of pandemic aftershocks, understaffing, and customer frustrations with locked-up toothpaste have chains reeling. CVS announced 3K layoffs this month, adding to 5K last year, and it’s closing 900 stores. Walgreens, which said a quarter of locations aren’t profitable, is shuttering about 1.2K stores over the next three years. Rite Aid, which emerged from bankruptcy last month, has closed 500+ locations.