Teaching consumers to lead healthier lives

When RB North America president Alexander Lacik thinks about his 18-year-old son, he doesn’t doubt that it’s possible he might live longer than 100 years. His concern is where his son will get the knowledge to lead a healthy lifestyle — something Lacik said could be a big role for Walmart, particularly in the vitamins, minerals and supplements category.

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“I think that this is an opportunity for us to think about how we educate the people who are touching this category in Walmart,” Lacik said, noting that “this is one of the most planned purchases in the healthcare space,” though with VMS, purchases are moving away from traditional stores toward specialists — either online or brick and mortar.



With the key to living a long life being prevention when it comes to health, Lacik said there is a disconnect between the amount of data available to consumers and the knowledge available to them about leading healthy lives, and being a resource for knowledge is a niche Walmart can fill.



“My question then becomes: Is the touchpoint with Walmart going to be the one that brings [my son] in and teaches him how to live a healthier life?” Lacik asked. “For me, that’s the biggest question. .... How do you make sure he chooses Walmart as the destination for a better life?”