Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc said on Thursday its customers can now pick up health and wellness products from its stores in about 30 minutes from placing an order online.
The drugstore chain said its new service, under its customer loyalty program that has more than 100 million members, will be in addition to at-home delivery and discounts on prescription drugs.
Earlier this week, Amazon.com Inc launched its online pharmacy for delivering prescription medication in the United States, intensifying competition for drug retailers such as Walgreens and CVS Health.
Worries about the worsening pandemic pushed Wall Street to tap the brakes Tuesday on its big November rally, which had vaulted stocks back to record heights.
Treasury yields also dipped after a report showed U.S. shoppers spent less at retailers last month than economists expected. The numbers underscore how the coronavirus pandemic is worsening and threatens to drag the economy lower, at least in the near term.
Stocks that stormed higher this month on hopes that a vaccine or two may get the global economy back to normal next year receded amid the worries.
The S&P 500 fell 17.38 points, or 0.5%, from its record to close at 3,609.53. It was the first loss for the index in three days.
Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday launched an online pharmacy for delivering prescription medications in the United States, increasing competition with drug retailers such as Walgreens, CVS Health and Walmart.
Called Amazon Pharmacy, the new store lets customers price-compare as they buy drugs on the company’s website or app. Shoppers can toggle at checkout between their co-pay and a non-insurance option, heavily discounted for members of its loyalty club Prime.
The move builds on the web retailer’s 2018 acquisition of PillPack, which Amazon said will remain separate for customers needing pre-sorted doses of multiple drugs.
COVID-19 took another bite out of Walgreens Boots Alliance quarterly numbers but this time left behind better-than-expected earnings.
The drugstore chain said Thursday that it made $373 million in the final quarter of fiscal 2020 after losing $1.7 billion the previous quarter, when millions of shoppers stayed home to avoid the rapidly spreading pandemic.
COVID-19 still hurt. The company estimated that the pandemic’s impact shaved about $520 million from its operating income in the most recent quarter. But Walgreens also grew sales and prescriptions in the United States and saw some improvement in the United Kingdom. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. runs more than 9,000 stores in the United States and several thousand locations internationally.
CVS Health reported surprisingly strong second-quarter earnings as people postponed elective medical procedures during the pandemic, and it raised its profit expectations for the year.
The postponed procedures led to lower benefit costs, CVS said Wednesday.
The virus outbreak shut down most of the economy in the second quarter, which meant fewer surgery bills or other big claims. At least some of those postponed procedures are expected to ramp up again this year.
The coronavirus pandemic pushed Walgreens to a $1.7 billion loss it the most recent quarter with customers staying home or limiting shopping to essential supplies from grocery stores.
The drugstore chain said Thursday that the rapidly spreading virus took a bite of between $700 million and $750 million from sales, with much of the damage coming from outside the United States.
More companies of all sizes will begin releasing details about their financial performances over the past three months as COVID-19 seized economies in Europe, as well as North and South America.
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