By TIMOTHY W. MARTIN
Drugstores, still struggling with a weak economy, are pushing flu vaccinations earlier and harder than ever. They've bolstered the ranks of pharmacists certified to give shots and are promoting the service through TV commercials, in-store displays, Facebook and Twitter.
Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal
Drugstores are promoting flu shots earlier this year to try to drive customer traffic. Above, a Walgreen's in New York Monday.
Patrick Conlon / The Wall Street Journal
The store is offering $29.99 flu-shot gift cards.
CVS Caremark Corp., which is reaching out to some of its 64 million loyalty-card members via e-mail, is letting customers book an appointment by computer, phone or in-person. Walgreen Co. is even advertising flu-shot gift cards, for $29.99, aimed at kids headed off to college and other family members, using the slogan "Arm yourself for the ones you love."
Rite Aid Corp. this year tripled to 7,400 the number of pharmacists who can administer flu shots. Walgreen has 25,000 pharmacists trained to give flu shots, up from 16,000 last year. Until recently, retail pharmacists couldn't get state certification to provide flu shots. This is the first season all 50 states will allow pharmacists to provide vaccinations. In the past, drugstores brought in outside vendors. Stores are generally charging $25 to $30 for shots.
"Not every consumer knows they can go to their pharmacist and get a flu shot," says Robert Thompson, Rite Aid's executive vice president of pharmacy. The hope is that customers will stop in for a flu shot and pick up shampoo or a gallon of milk.
Traditionally, influenza-vaccination season started in October. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the timing be moved up by a month. Now, the shots are available before Labor Day, mixing it up with suntan lotion and back-to-school supplies.
Pharmacies could use a sales boost, as prescriptions have shrunk as people cut back on doctor visits in the poor economy. Fewer visits to the pharmacy mean fewer chances to sell toothpaste, mascara and potato chips. CVS recently trimmed its fiscal-year outlook amid a 12% drop in pharmacy claims, while both Rite Aid and Walgreen saw sales dips.
Chains have responded by tweaking their merchandise mix and renovating stores. Walgreen has been lowering shelf heights, adding beer and wine to more locations and offering prepared foods. CVS has doubled the amount of space for food in about half of its stores.
Tim Martin talks to Simon Constable about a new type of gift card being sold by the nation's big drug chains, including Walgreen's and Rite-Aid -- flu shot "gift cards."
Flu shots offer stores "a chance to highlight the improved product assortment," says Mark Miller, a retail analyst for William Blair & Co. "You come in and get a flu shot and see that [the store] is de-cluttered, or maybe you see beer or wine in the store." In addition, he estimates that vaccine profit margins are between 30% and 50%—assuming that the stores aren't stuck with leftover vaccine, which can't be returned.
Walgreen, the nation's largest pharmacy by number of stores, said seasonal flu shots added 2.4% to same-store sales last September and about 40% of patients were new to Walgreen stores.
Sales of flu shots have a chance to rise this year, even though last year people were told to get two shots, one for seasonal flu and one for H1N1, aka swine flu. Sales were stunted when barely a month into inoculation season most retailers ran out of vaccine, as demand was stronger than expected and manufacturers had already switched to making H1N1.
About 110 million people got seasonal flu vaccine last season, according to CDC estimates. Another 70 million got the separate H1N1 vaccine. The CDC anticipates that between 150 million and 180 million vaccines—a seasonal injection that includes protection against the H1N1 virus —will be distributed this flu season. (The $29.99 combo shot at Walgreen's costs about $5 more than last year's seasonal shot.)
Vaccine Count
- SEASONAL FLU SHOTS (last season): 110 million
- H1N1 SHOTS (last season): 90 million vaccines (70 million people, as some children got two doses)
- ESTIMATES FOR THIS YEAR* 150 million to 180 million doses to be distributed
Source: CDC
*This year's flu shot protects against both seasonal flu and H1N1.
Overall, about 40% of the population older than six months received a seasonal-flu vaccine last year, besting the previous high of 33%, according to a CDC survey published in April. Pharmacist-administered flu shots represented 12% of all the vaccinations, according to the CDC. The cost is covered by Medicare Part B and many commercial health plans, so drugstores see the chance to take flu-shot business from doctors.
This year, the CDC recommends all people over the age of six months get a flu shot, expanding the pool by advising for the first time that adults between 19 and 49 get inoculated.
Typically, about one in five people get the flu every year, with instances peaking in January, February and March. The CDC, which characterized last year as mild, estimates there were 12,700 flu-related deaths in the U.S.—a smaller but younger group than usual.
Walgreen says it administered 7.5 million H1N1 and seasonal flu shots last season, up from 1.2 million the year before. Walgreen's figures represent about half of all the retailer-administered flu shots, says Mr. Miller, the analyst. He estimates retail pharmacies could administer 20 million to 30 million flu shots this season. Rite Aid, which doled out 250,000 shots last year, said it has ordered a million doses for this year.
Grocery chains with pharmacies also are pushing flu shots harder. Supervalu Inc., operator of the Jewel, Shaw's and Albertson's, says it expects to deliver 50% more flu shots this year in its 800 pharmacies. Kroger Co., the second largest food retailer by sales, says it will have flu vaccines available in all of its 1,900 pharmacies
No comments:
Post a Comment