You can buy pretty much anything you need on Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) , from books and electronics to groceries and clothes. And now, you don’t even have to make your purchases from a computer; you can conveniently buy countless items from your smartphone or tablet, an Alexa-powered smart speaker, and even one of those tiny Dash buttons.
Amazon, however, is looking to expand into new territory. According to CNBC, the e-commerce giant is trying to figure out how it can break into the multi-billion-dollar pharmacy industry.
Citing sources, CNBC reports that Amazon “has held at least one annual meeting at its Seattle headquarters to discuss whether it should enter the pharmacy business.” The company is also hiring a business lead to aid in this process, and is ready to “get more serious” about entering the pharmacy market, especially as the broader healthcare market could undergo serious change soon.
CNBC’s sources also said that Amazon has begun to recruit from the pharmacy space, and has been in “deep discussions” with industry experts. But nothing is set in stone, since there are many established players already operating in the pharmacy market, including CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) , Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) , and Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX) .
One also has to wonder how Amazon would implement its delivery methods. How would you order your prescriptions? Would prescriptions be delivered to your door through Amazon Prime? What kind of boxes would they come in? Would Amazon potentially deliver prescriptions using drones?
Amazon already sells medical supplies and equipment in the U.S., like blood pressure monitors, braces, hearing aids, and even walkers and wheelchairs. Entering the pharmacy industry does seem like a natural and lucrative next step for the company, albeit a complicated and highly regulated one.
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