Amazon turns attention to medication

Amazon is looking for someone within its ranks to figure out how it can move into the highly lucrative medicine sales industry. According to several sources, Amazon has been contemplating this move for some time.

First small steps

Amazon recently launched the sale of medical appliances and equipment and its Japanese division started shipping products from a range of pharmacies in April. It now seems the company is intent on taking the next step: if it decides to start selling medicine, analysts believe this could generate up to 50 billion dollars (45 billion euro), if handled correctly.

There are a lot of obstacles in the medicine sales industry: plenty of established competitors and legislation that needs to be upheld if it wants to sell medication that requires a prescription.

It also remains to be seen whether Amazon can actually contribute something to this particular industry, because plenty of pharmacies already ship medicine within 24 hours, while senior citizens still prefer their local pharmacy to provide personalized advice. On the other hand, pricing may become an important part of Amazon’s strategy.

According to several insiders, Amazon has at least one meeting every year to discuss whether it should start selling medication, but the jury is still out on the actual decision. The fact that it now wants to appoint a team to investigate the possibilities is new, however. Amazon itself refused to comment on the matter.