We live in an era where convenience and “on-demand” are everything, and nearly every consumer service has moved online to become instantly accessible from our phones. Industries such as food and e-commerce were the first to innovate, with others following suit as consumer habits evolved to expect the world at their fingertips, just a tap away. And while retail is at the forefront of this on-demand economy, retail pharmacy, like much of the heavily regulated health care industry, has been slower to adapt.
Enter NimbleRx.
Today, we are proud to officially announce the launch of Nimble as we shift to a new model which enables local and independent pharmacies across the US to offer reliable and affordable delivery to their customers. Of the more than 60,000 pharmacies in the US, roughly half are still independent and locally owned. Nimble now provides them with the tools needed to compete with national chains, e-commerce innovators and big-box retailers in this changing, on-demand economy. This project has been nearly a year in the making, and the team is thrilled to finally share what we’ve been working on and the impact we know Nimble will have, and that we’re already seeing, on independent pharmacies.
In the U.S., 25 percent of prescriptions go unfilled. That means patients aren’t getting the drugs they need, and pharmacies with already thin margins bear the burden of uncaptured sales. With Nimble, we’ve created a way for patients to have more reliable access to prescriptions, while empowering small pharmacies to stay competitive and offer a service that consumers need and want.
A Shifting Landscape
Nimble first launched in 2015 as a direct-to-consumer pharmacy retailer. We ran five distribution centers and worked directly with prescribers to ship prescriptions straight to their patients. Was there value in this service? Absolutely. But growth and adoption were underwhelming, and the more we heard from patients and regional and independent pharmacies, we realized there was a massively underserved market that had been completely overlooked.
With the rise of the on-demand economy and shifting consumer behaviors, independent pharmacies have struggled to compete with the large conglomerates which have the money and resources to build their own technology and platforms for delivery, or have the scale to sign on third-party delivery platforms. Now, Nimble offers smaller pharmacies access to a delivery service platform that gives their customers the delivery experience they want and expect without building their own infrastructure and expensive overhead costs. Consumers don’t want a new pharmacy, they want access to the pharmacies they have trusted for years — the faces and names they recognize, and real people behind the counter. With Nimble, the local, neighborhood pharmacy is teed up to thrive for many years ahead.
With this business change, in January we stopped direct distribution and began our new delivery model which equips local and independent pharmacies with the infrastructure to deliver prescriptions right to their customers’ doors.
Big Risks, Bigger Rewards
Changing the business model was a risk, and it certainly wasn’t easy to just close up shop and move in a different direction. But once we did, the reaction we experienced has been nothing short of astonishing. In a mere six months, we signed up hundreds of pharmacies across 13 states and are currently generating $150 million in annualized revenue. It sure seems like we’ve hit the nail on the head!
Here’s one example. Raj Jhala purchased an independent pharmacy outside St. Louis in 2015, that was struggling to generate revenue from its prescription business. Raj made a plan to bolster the business through the implementation of a very customer-focused and technology-forward vision to better serve his community. He recently filled us in on the incredible success he’s seen since adding delivery with Nimble:
“We realized our long term sustainability was tied to being able to meet the evolving needs of customers who demand convenience. Since partnering with Nimble, nearly 50 percent of our customers have converted to using it for their prescriptions. Having a delivery platform has drastically improved not only the quality of our customer service but our business overall. We believe this puts us ahead of our larger national chain competitors and they will have to play catchup to meet our capabilities and customer focus.” — Raj Jhala, Pharmacist in Charge at Saint Peters Community Pharmacy in Saint Peters, MO
The Path Ahead
Stories like Raj’s and many others have been tremendously affirming for Nimble, but there’s still much work to do to help get as many of these pharmacies as possible into the digital and mobile world. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Nimble, and our team is confident that together with our pharmacy partners, we’re already well on our way to building the largest and most beloved pharmacy delivery service in the country. Let’s go!
To learn more about NimbleRx please visit our website at NimbleRx.com
