Why becoming an Amazon Hub Counter can be fulfilling
Pharmacy Marketing and Promotions
Draw customers into your store with Amazon package pickups
In brief:
- More than 100 million Americans subscribe to Amazon Prime1
- Many shoppers don’t want packages left on their doorsteps
- To accommodate these shoppers, Amazon created a program with retailers across the country to establish Amazon Hub Counters
- Providing package pickup at your pharmacy can draw in new customers
Health Mart + Amazon
In October, Health Mart announced a program with Amazon Hub Counter. Counters are retail locations where Amazon Prime’s 100 million customers can pick up packages.
More secure than door delivery
While the ecommerce giant is striving to provide fast delivery to its Prime customers, some shoppers aren’t home and don’t want packages left on their doorstep where a package might be damaged or stolen. Amazon Hub Counter provides a solution by delivering a customer’s package to a secure location, such as your pharmacy, where the customer can pick it up over the next 14 days.
Amazon Hub’s proposition for Health Mart® pharmacies: being a pickup location will bring additional traffic into your store.
Since Laura’s Pharmacy in Azle, Texas, became a pickup stop for Amazon Hub’s deliveries a few months ago, 5 to 10 people each week have been stopping in to pick up their packages. And that’s before the holiday shopping season gets started.
Pharmacy owner Laura Temple understands. She explained that many shoppers worry about a package being left outside their home. When a pharmacy becomes an Amazon Hub Counter, shoppers can choose to pick up their packages from your store.
Amazon Hub’s shoppers may buy from you, too
Laura’s Pharmacy is in a growing suburb of a city with about 13,000 residents. Laura’s Pharmacy offers a range of products and services to draw customers in, including compounding, vaccines and durable medical equipment. The pharmacy also provides natural supplements and local raw honey, Melissa and Doug gifts and books, a selection of cool socks, and a coffee bar where the barista whips up smoothies.
When Health Mart presented the option to become an Amazon Hub Counter, Temple said, “We gladly accepted.” Temple sees the partnership with Amazon Hub Counter as a convenient way for current patients to pick up their Amazon Hub packages. It also brings in neighbors who then become introduced to the meaningful care provided at Laura’s Pharmacy.
Upon piloting this partnership, Temple spoke about it to the local newspaper, which wrote an article about the new service.
While still early, Temple has seen increased sales, which even includes the Amazon Hub driver stopping in for coffee. She doesn’t yet have hard data for her pharmacy, but a big retailer has posted positive results from its partnership with Amazon Hub.
When Kohl’s stores in Chicago and Los Angeles piloted accepting returns for Amazon Hub, they saw:2
- A 9% increase in new customers visiting the stores and buying merchandise
- An 8% increase in revenues
Easy to get started
To operationalize Amazon Hub Counter, Laura’s Pharmacy designated shelf space to store the Amazon Hub packages. Pharmacy staff members were trained to use a handheld device to scan the packages when they arrive, sending a message to shoppers that their item is now ready for pickup at Laura’s Pharmacy. The staff scans again when the shopper picks up the package.
The pharmacy receives a small payment for each package, but these payments aren’t what makes the service valuable for the store.
Bringing new people into your pharmacy can translate into loyal customers and additional sales. Use the increased traffic to your advantage by offering prescription transfers, vaccines and front-end items.
Plus, it’s an opportunity for your Health Mart staff to shine and show customers what outstanding customer service looks like.
Turn online events into a marketing opportunity
Participating stores can take advantage of online shopping events throughout the year, like Amazon Prime Day, Cyber Monday and Black Friday.
These events provide a marketing opportunity for you, reminding customers that their packages can be waiting for them in the security of your pharmacy.
Grow your business with Amazon Hub Counter
To learn more about how your Health Mart store can become an Amazon Hub Counter, visit myHealthMart. Not a Health Mart? Contact us to learn how the Health Mart franchise program can help you grow your business, bring patients to your store, and expand your services for more revenue.