Customer Satisfaction, Brand Loyalty Reach Lofty Levels for U.S. Pharmacies

Pharmacies do an excellent job of serving their patients, and customer satisfaction and brand loyalty levels are among the highest in any industry, according to Rick Johnson, Director, Government & Healthcare Practices at J.D. Power.

In its 2016 U.S. Pharmacy Study, J.D. Power found that new efforts by pharmacies to boost convenience by filling orders online and providing retail health clinics is resonating when it comes to overall customer satisfaction. Health Mart, Publix, Sam’s Club and Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy rank highest in their respective categories: Brick-and-mortar chain drug stores; brick-and-mortar supermarkets; brick-and-mortar mass merchandisers; and mail order.

The 2016 U.S. Pharmacy Study measures customer satisfaction with brick-and-mortar pharmacies across five factors: Prescription ordering/pick-up process; store; cost competitiveness; non-pharmacist staff; and pharmacist. Satisfaction with mail order pharmacies is measured across five factors: prescription ordering process; prescription delivery; non-pharmacist staff; cost competitiveness; and pharmacist.

The study was based on responses from 14,789 pharmacy customers who filled a new prescription or refilled a prescription during the three months prior to the survey period of June 2016.

Loyalty360 caught up with Johnson to find out about the ramifications of the study.

What is the biggest takeaway (positive or negative) from this study?

Johnson: Pharmacies do an excellent job of serving their patients. Overall, levels of satisfaction with both Brick and Mortar (B&M) and Mail Order (MO) pharmacies are some of the highest we see across any syndicated study in any of the industries evaluated by J.D. Power. It is an extremely competitive industry with innovation in the customer experience coming from all channels; supermarket, mass merchandisers, chain drug stores and mail order. The one channel that has not kept pace are pharmacies embedded within hospitals and clinics where we have seen steep declines in satisfaction for the past three years.  

What are pharmacies doing well or better now than before, and where do the challenges remain?

Johnson: For MO pharmacies, the biggest challenge is keeping up with online retailers. Placing an order online these days for shoes, clothing, or household goods is easier than ever. The website interfaces of online retailers are very user friendly, orders are often delivered next day or even same day, and some of those orders were shipped for free. Fulfilling a prescription is not the same as fulfilling an order for a new pair of shoes, however. patients have some of the same expectations when it comes to the ordering process and delivery.

For B&M pharmacies, I think one of their biggest challenges is properly managing wellness services and clinics. I believe there has been some growing pains in this piece of the industry as we have seen cycles of clinic services being outsourced, then in-sourced, then outsourced again. These in-store clinics and wellness services are being counted on for incremental revenue by their parent corporations, and play an important role in driving patient satisfaction. B&M pharmacies have to get this right. We have also seen tremendous innovation in supermarkets, mass merchandisers and chain drug stores with advances in offering telemedicine services, corporate wellness services, onsite nutritionists, etc.

The other challenge I see for B&M pharmacies is the continued evolving role the pharmacist plays. Interaction with a pharmacist has a significant impact on a patient’s pharmacy experience. Not only does satisfaction increase, but both non-prescription medical purchases and non-pharmacy purchases increase when a patient engages with their pharmacist. Pharmacists have done a great job interacting more with their patients while balancing all the other responsibilities that come with running a pharmacy, and maintaining the right balance is more important now than ever.

How have pharmacies evolved in the past decade from a CX/customer engagement perspective?

Johnson: The pharmacy experience has become less transactional/price-driven and more about service. Cost competitiveness as a driver of satisfaction has dropped from weights of 22% to 15% in B&M and 42% to 35% in MO from 2012 to 2016. Given some caveats about changes in our model and question wording over time that make exact year-to-year comparisons invalid, we have seen a steady increase in patient satisfaction with their B&M pharmacy experience (814 in 2012 to 872 in 2016) and their MO experience (792 to 869 over the same period). 

Is customer loyalty stronger now when it comes to pharmacies?

Johnson: Yes, customer loyalty toward pharmacies is stronger now than it has been. Again, looking at changes from 2012 to 2016, those patients stating they were very likely (top box out of four response options) to return to fill a prescription at the pharmacy they currently use has increased from 73% to 85% for B&M and 78% to 87% for MO. In addition, patients’ likelihood to recommend their pharmacy to a family member of friend has also increased over the same time period; 56% to 65% for B&M and 47% to 61% for MO (% very likely to recommend – top box out of four response options).

Where do you think pharmacies can improve to enhance brand loyalty?

Johnson: Pharmacies are getting to the point where incremental gains in patient satisfaction and loyalty are harder to come by because they perform at such high levels. That being said, decreasing wait time for drop off and pick up in B&M pharmacies are two top opportunities to moving the needle, while continuing to make the ordering process easier, while cutting down on shipping and processing time for MO pharmacies, is key.
Lastly, for both B&M and MO pharmacies, there have been quite a few mergers and acquisitions in the past three years. Pharmacies need to ensure they are taking the best pieces of their former companies and integrating them into the new pharmacy thoughtfully, while measuring loyalty and satisfaction so they continue to learn how to improve. 

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