Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) raised quite a lot of ire when it started promoting $4 pharmacy prescriptions back in 2006. Now that some of the competition has followed suit, Wal-Mart is making its prescription mail-delivery program front and center. Customers don't even have to set foot in a Wal-Mart to get their cheap prescription drugs.
After an apparent successful pilot program that began in Michigan this past May, Wal-Mart will be offering customers a 90-day supply of many common generic drug prescriptions for $10, following on the heels of a similar plan by national pharmacy chain CVS/Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS), which offers 400 generics for a $9.99 fee and a one-time $10 sign-up fee.
What this says is that Wal-Mart is serious about the pharmacy business -- even if it is not getting customers inside its retail stores. Wal-Mart is taking CVS's program a bit further: no added mailing costs, sign-up costs or other membership costs are included in its $10 charge for a 90-day supply of roughly 300 generic prescription drugs.
There is also no mailing fee for 3,000 more generic and brand name prescription drugs at their respective prices. But the real question is this: doesn't everyone live within spitting distance to a local Wal-Mart? Apparently not -- and the world's largest retailer wants to make sure those customers are served well and inexpensively.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-23-2009 @ 12:30AM
roudy11z said...
Thanks for this article Brian. I am back to say again that Wal-Mart will always survive as the largest retailer as long as they continue to come up with ways to stay ahead of their competition.At the same time they are continuing to save the average family like mine many thousands of dollars yearly overall.I continue to have WMT as my core holding which I plan to pass down to my children. I have held it since 1982 through thick and thin and I'm glad I did.
RoudMan 9-22-09