Walmart Takes on Drugstores

Walmart is expanding further into health care services as it seeks to increase sluggish traffic and sales.The retailer is working with online health insurance agency DirectHealth.com to help shoppers compare coverage options and sign up for Medicare or plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Some 2,700 stores have rolled out dedicated “Healthcare Begins Here” counters positioned in Action Alley and staffed with insurance agents that can educate shoppers on plan options from multiple carriers and help them make a purchase. (In a case of bad timing, soon after announcing its partnership with DirectHealth.com in October, Walmart also said it would cut health insurance for tens of thousands of part time employees and raise premiums for its full-timers.)Walmart is not new to the health care category. Like many other retailers, the mass merchant offers flu shots and other vaccines, and most recently began rolling out its own primary care clinics staffed by nurse practitioners. (See “Marketing at Walmart” at right.) Adding more wellness services is a way to compete with big pharmacy chains such as Walgreens and CVS/pharmacy.“Our goal is to be the number one health care provider in the industry,” president of health and wellness Labeed Diab said in a media release. “And the more we broaden our assortment, the more we broaden our offering, the more we educate the customer Walmart is a great place to create a one-stop shop.”Simultaneously, the retailer is putting more muscle behind its “Take the Lead in Your Health” platform. First spotted in print ads last year (see Related Updates), the slogan now appears in circulars and digital ads as well as on multiple P-O-P materials in the pharmacy department, including:a “Cold & Flu” floorstand from Johnson & Johnson stocking Tylenol and Sudafed SKUs.a “Cold & Flu” pallet display merchandising brands including Procter & Gamble’s Vicks NyQuil and Clorox Co.’s flagship.a shelf talker promoting supplements and vitamins from brands such as Bayer Healthcare's One-A-Day, Pfizer's Centrum and Church & Dwight's Vitafusion.The slogan additionally graces ceiling banners promoting the retailer’s flu shot program. Signage at flu shot stations also bears the logos of returning partner brands such as Reckitt Benckiser’s Lysol and Johnson & Johnson’s Children’s Tylenol. (See “Walmart Puts …” in Related Articles.)

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