What You Should Know:
– Overall customer satisfaction with mail order pharmacies has risen steadily, while satisfaction with chain drug stores has slid, causing many chain drug store customers to consider switching providers, according to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Pharmacy Study,
– The trend is fueled by a rise in digital engagement and a decline in neighborhood drug stores, is setting the stage for a “tipping point in the pharmacy space”.
– The J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Pharmacy Study, now in its 17th year, is based on responses from 14,700 pharmacy customers who filled a prescription in the past 12 months, and was fielded from May 2024 through May 2025.
Customer Satisfaction by Pharmacy Types
The report highlights a clear divergence in customer satisfaction across pharmacy types:
- Chain Drug Stores: The average overall satisfaction score is 643, a mere one-point increase from 2024. Despite this incremental improvement, chain drug stores lag significantly behind other pharmacies.
- Mail Order Pharmacies: These pharmacies show the largest year-over-year gains in satisfaction, rising seven points to a score of 697 in 2025. This score is 54 points higher than the average for chain drug stores.
- Supermarkets and Mass Merchandisers: These pharmacies outperform chain drug stores in key service metrics, with average satisfaction scores of 715 and 706, respectively.
The gap in satisfaction is having a direct impact on customer loyalty. According to Christopher Lis, managing director of global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power, “Chain drug store customers are significantly more likely than supermarket or mass market merchandiser pharmacy customers to say they ‘definitely will’ or ‘probably will’ switch pharmacies in the next 12 months.”
The Digital Tipping Point and Consumer Awareness
The study reveals the leading drivers of customer satisfaction for mail order pharmacies are digital channels, including websites, mobile apps, and text messaging, as well as the ability to save customers time and money. This reflects a growing consumer shift towards digital solutions. The majority of mail order pharmacy customers (63%) are either “very interested” or “somewhat interested” in using a digital pharmacy to fill their prescriptions, a five-percentage-point increase from 2024.
However, there is a clear opportunity for digital pharmacies to improve consumer awareness, as 33% of pharmacy customers are still not aware of any digital pharmacy brands. Among the 67% who are aware, a majority (58%) know of Amazon Pharmacy, while other brands have significantly lower recognition.
Study Rankings by Pharmacy Type
- Brick-and-Mortar Chain Drug Stores:
- 1st: Health Mart (759)
- 2nd: Good Neighbor Pharmacy (732)
- Brick-and-Mortar Mass Merchandiser Pharmacies:
- 1st: Sam’s Club (778) – for the 10th consecutive year
- 2nd: Costco (765)
- Brick-and-Mortar Supermarket Pharmacies:
- 1st: Wegmans (764)
- 2nd: Publix (760)
- 3rd: H-E-B (756)
- Mail Order Pharmacies:
- 1st: PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy (745) – for the second consecutive year
- 2nd: Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy (740)
- 3rd: Amazon Pharmacy (734)
For more information about the study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/healthcare/pharmacy-study
