American Pharmaceutical Review
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Anyone remember the 2004 movie The Butterfly Effect?
Starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart the title refers to the butterfly effect, a popular hypothetical situation which illustrates how small initial differences may lead to large unforeseen consequences over time.
According to the Wikipedia entry: “Kutcher plays 20-year-old college student Evan Treborn, with Amy Smart as his childhood sweetheart, Evan finds he has the ability to travel back in time to inhabit his former self (that is, his adult mind inhabits his younger body) and to change the present by changing his past behaviors. Having been the victim of several childhood traumas aggravated by stress-induced memory losses, he attempts to set things right for himself and his friends, but there are unintended consequences for all.”
Despite poor reviews from critics the movie went on to earn $96 million dollars on a budget of $13 million. Not a bad return on investment.
I’m reminded of this movie due to some recent news. I hate to use company names in this column, but I think you can figure out who I’m talking about.
One of the country’s major pharmacy chains announced that it will be closing some unprofitable stores and at the same time will be remodeling approximately 1500 locations to offer more services such as health screenings and blood tests.
Sounds like a prudent move. But it got me to thinking – why?
Pharmacies rely on foot traffic for much of their revenue – people coming in to pick up a prescription, usually pick up something else – aspirin, a box of tissues, etc.
No foot traffic – reduced revenue.
What would have caused this?
Looking back a few months – the world’s largest on-line retailer launched a pre-packaged medicine delivery service. Meds by mail is not a new concept – but packaging it into daily doses is. Could this entry into the mail order prescription business be the cause of the pharmacy’s retail store shake-up?
It’s possible. If prescription orders are down – they need a way to get more people into the stores. Offering more services, in person, is one way to do it.
It will be interesting to see how this “butterfly effect” continues to play out – as personalized home delivery of meds becomes more universal.
What do you think?