Amazon Pharmacy is struggling to gain the attention of Prime users—but that could change soon

The news: Amazon Pharmacy is reportedly not getting much interest from its Prime members, per a recent Morgan Stanley survey cited by Insider.

• Only 2% of Amazon Prime members said Pharmacy was their reason for using their Prime membership.
• By contrast, most (73%) users access their Prime subscription for features like 2-day shipping, Prime Video (58%), and free same-day shipping (48%).

The Amazon Pharmacy Rx card isn’t enough to entice new users: Most pharmacy competitors are already offering similar drug discounts.

For context, every Amazon Prime member automatically has access to Amazon Pharmacy. Prime members get an Amazon Prime Rx benefit card, which offers savings and discounts at over 60,000 pharmacies including Amazon Pharmacy, according to the tech giant.

But competitors like Walmart haven’t sat idly by and watched as Amazon moved into the online pharmacy space.

• In 2020, Walmart introduced a discount prescription plan, Walmart+ Rx, as an add-on to its Walmart+ membership program.
• Walmart+ Rx members can access select medications at zero cost and thousands of additional prescriptions at up to an 85% discount.

Zooming out: Amazon's recent One Medical acquisition could be a play to make its healthcare ecosystem more connected and drive business to Amazon Pharmacy.

Even though Amazon was already involved in primary care with its telehealth business, its presence became more dominant after bringing One Medical under its roof. One Medical’s brick-and-mortar stores and virtual care services reach nearly 800,000 members across 25 US markets.

• We’ll likely see Amazon reel in more loyal pharmacy members via One Medical.
• Amazon could encourage One Medical members to fill their prescriptions at Amazon Pharmacy after a virtual visit, for instance.

Dig deeper: To learn more about how Amazon and digital pharmacy competitors are disrupting the traditional pharmacy space, check out our Digital Pharmacies Report.