Data Dive: Retail Race Edition

Hard though it may be to believe, the holidays are almost upon us. Don’t let those jack o’lanterns fool you — there are pine garlands just waiting to make their move any day now.

And, speaking of making moves, this week’s Data Dive is dedicated to the retailers who have decided to start angling for poll position now, as holiday 2017 is still in the pre-show phase.

Amazon is mulling making a move on online prescriptions, Walmart is upgrading its mobile express returns game and Target has decided to join the Allo ecosystem.

Get ready to start your engines.

Amazon’s Latest Prescription for Success

One can always tell when Amazon sets its sights on an industry — the key players in those sectors see their stocks take a tumble. Just ask America’s grocers.

Such was the case for major drugstore chains on Friday, when it was reported that Amazon might expand into online prescriptions.

The official decision will come in a few weeks.

“We are convinced that Amazon will almost certainly enter the drug distribution value chain within two years, evolving into a more disruptive offering over time,” brokerage firm Leerink analyst Ana Gupte wrote in a note to clients.

Reports indicate that Amazon, if and when it enters the market, will expand its senior team with drug supply chain experts. The U.S. prescription drug market is a big one — at $560 billion per year — but it’s also extremely complex.

Goldman Sachs believes Amazon can improve price transparency for consumers and reduce out-of-pocket costs.

Last week’s news was on top of another news report last month that Amazon was looking at the mail-order pharmacy market, potentially targeting the uninsured or those who have high deductibles and pay out of pocket for prescription drugs. Pharmacy executives said it would take 18 to 24 months or even longer to get drug licenses in all 50 states.

Target Joins Team Allo

While it is always a surprise to see Walmart and Target on the same side of anything, the two firms now have two things in common: an ongoing threat to their businesses and an ally named Allo.

Going forward, Target customers who use Google Express will also be able to use Allo on Google Home devices and Android TV devices to place their orders. Soon, Target noted, customers will also be able to use Google Allo on Android smartphones and iPhones.

“Google Express helps [consumers] get [their] shopping done fast,” Target said in a blog post. “[They] can use the Google Express app or website, Google Home or Android TV (we’ll get to that) to shop from retailers like Target and have the items delivered to [their] door. The service is available across the continental U.S. (not including Alaska and Hawaii) and requires no shipping or service fees for delivery when [consumers] meet a retailer’s order minimum. And since the Target assortment comes straight from store shelves, [the] orders show up in just two days.”

Customers will also be able to link their Target.com and Google accounts, so Google Express remembers their favorite items and can tell a Google Home device to reorder, say, paper towels or cereal.

The company confirmed it has been testing Google Express for the last few years and has observed that customers tend to find the service addictive once they begin using it.

“We’re teaming up with Google to create innovative digital experiences using voice and other cutting-edge technologies to elevate Target’s strength in style areas, such as home, apparel and beauty,” Target noted in its blog post detailing the launch. “Work is underway for Google and Target teams to bring this all to life. So, stay tuned for more.”

Next year, shoppers who use a Target REDcard will get 5 percent off most purchases and free shipping when they use Google Express.

Walmart Ramps Up Returns

In its ongoing attempts to build a better omnichannel experience — and to leverage its physical proximity to the 90 percent of American shoppers who live within a 10-minute drive of a retail location — Walmart this week announced news of its Mobile Express Returns.

The program, according to Walmart SVP Daniel Eckert, is intended to make returns as easy as a tap and go and to make good on its promise to save consumers time.

It’s always been possible for customers to return a Walmart.com item to a physical store location — but until recently, Eckert said, the process was “rather lumpy” and could take a full five minutes.

Mobile Express Returns shrinks that wait time to just 30 seconds.

To use the program, a customer starts the return process at home by logging into their Walmart.com app, opening the order and identifying the item they want to return. Once a customer arrives at the store with the item, they hand it to a store crew member and walk away.

Mobile Express Returns also saves the consumer a trip back to the store when the item being returned “doesn’t make sense for either Walmart or the customer.” Though they declined to offer a full list, Eckert did mention household goods and cosmetics as being logical candidates.

For now, Mobile Express Return — which will be available as soon as November 2017 — will only apply to items bought online through Walmart.com or the Walmart app. But, Eckert noted, the program is also built to apply to purchases at Walmart stores, meaning that as of early 2018, all Walmart purchases from any channel will be able to tap into Mobile Express Returns, including third-party merchants who use Walmart’s marketplace.

Eckert also hinted that Mobile Express Returns is just the latest innovation, with more to come. “Mobile Express Returns is our latest enhancement, but far from our last,” Eckert said, adding that more announcements on how Walmart will use its network of stores and technology to create unique retail experiences are on the horizon.

So, what did we learn this week? Retailers are desperate to not just make you happy, but to make you happier than any other retailer makes you.

Just in time for the holidays.

But put a pin in that for now — after all, we haven’t even made it to Halloween yet.