Which pharmacies are consumers shopping the most?

On its most recent weekly US Consumer Survey Insights report, Coresight Research analyzed what pharmacies consumers are shopping at the most, what they are purchasing and how that compares to overall consumer shopping habits.

The report, "US Consumer Survey Insights Drugstore and Pharmacy Shopping in Focus—CVS and Walgreens Are the Top Choices," found that 76.8% of U.S. consumers bought products from drugstores or pharmacy retailers in the past three months. This has remained relatively consistent since September 2023.

CVS Health overtook Walgreens to become the most popular drugstore retailer among drugstore/pharmacy shoppers in the latest survey period, with 49.2% of drugstore/pharmacy shoppers making a purchase from CVS in the past three months. However, both these drugstore chains hold a healthy lead of at least 24.8 percentage points over Walmart Pharmacy, which has a current shopper penetration rate of 19.5%.

[Read more: Target, locked]

Key findings:

•  No product category has seen a statistically significant change in purchase rates at drugstores/pharmacies since September 2023. The most-bought category is prescription drugs, consistently purchased by around two-thirds of shoppers. At least one-quarter of shoppers bought each of the top five categories in the most recent three-month period, including food and drinks along with medicines and health/wellness-related products.
• The company's regular weekly questions revealed a 6.5-percentage points increase in the proportion of consumers who went to an open-air shopping center in the past two weeks, compared to a month ago (based on four-week rolling averages).

 Shopping Patterns:

• In terms of food shopping, shopper behavior remains stable. 
• In nonfood, the tussle for top spot between Amazon and Walmart continues, with the latter proving more popular in Coresight's latest weekly survey after falling behind Amazon last week— although the differences between the two retailers are not statistically significant and they both retain a strong 20-PPT+ lead over third-placed Target. 
• Meanwhile, TJX saw a 6.7-PPT decline in shopper penetration month over month. Based on four-week rolling averages, Temu experienced a 3.3-PPT decline in shopper penetration month over month.
•  Looking at what shoppers are buying, the latest survey revealed a decline of 6.3 PPTs in the proportion of consumers who purchased sports/fitness products in-store, week over week. Based on four-week rolling averages, there was an increase of 5.1 PPTs in the proportion of consumers who purchased food and beverages in-store, month over month.

Consumer Sentiment: 

• Consumers are optimistic about their personal finances, with a net 2.7% of respondents expecting their household financial situation to get better over the next 12 months (based on four-week rolling averages). 
• However, consumers remain pessimistic about the prospects for the U.S. economy overall over the coming year, with a net 4.8% currently expecting conditions to worsen (based on four-week rolling averages). 

[Read more: Generation next: Capturing millennial, Gen Z shoppers]

"Our recent quarterly survey reveals that among drugstore and pharmacy shoppers, traditional drugstore companies CVS and Walgreens are the most popular retail destinations, with an extensive lead over third -placed Walmart Pharmacy," Coresight Research said. "These findings are likely the result of high accessibility: 70% –80% of the U.S. population lives within five miles of a CVS or Walgreens location. Prescription drugs and OTC products and medicines are the most bought items; these stores are primarily thought of as drug - dispensing stores even though they also offer other categories. According to reports from CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens Boots Alliance, prescription drugs account for more than 70% of their total annual sales."