Sunday Strategist: Doctor Walmart Will See You Now

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- The retail giant this week gave Bloomberg Businessweek a behind-the-scenes peek at two new health centers where bona fide MDs are taking patients at prices that are fixed, prominently displayed and relatively low (imagine that). A checkup is $30, teeth cleaning is $25 and mental health counseling can be had for the same per-minute rate as a Chinatown foot rub. 

The retail apocalypse is making for some strange bedfellows: a Nordstrom cocktail lounge, a Bass Pro Shops hotel and a Capital One coffee shop, to name a few. 

Bolting on an entirely new business is nothing new for the Walmart, which now makes a not insignificant pile of money from haircuts, oil changes and organic produce. The margins of the company's 4,756 U.S. stores are what have helped pump up traffic to 150 million people a week and helped keep those feet wandering around a little longer while they’re on site. 

But scale can be self-fulfilling. Walmart is the retail equivalent of Rob Gronkowski. Given his size and build, of course he’s going to be good at football, and basketball and drinking enough Bud Light to kill a pony.  Pick a business and odds are good that Wal-mart could play it at a pro or possibly all-star level: movie theaters, tax preparation, travel booking. Give it a few years and maybe we’ll see Walmart weddings … and divorces!

But healthcare seems particularly propitious. For one thing, it’s a huge industry—$3.6 trillion in the U.S. alone—and it’s a byzantine shambles. You think Big Mattress was ripe for disruption? Swing by the nearest emergency room or even your local pediatrician’s office. And while Amazon.com will sell you an X-ray machine and a pack of dental tools, after that you’re on your own. 

There’s another systemic cultural shift at play here: when it comes to the logistics of life, many of us just can’t be bothered anymore. Even before coronavirus, date night was increasingly outsourced—or rather insourced—to Netflix and Seamless. We grocery shop on Postmates and work out on Peloton. When we do venture outside, there’s value to be had in shrinking the errand chain. Tractor Supply has built a thriving bricks-and-mortar empire in rural American largely based on what it calls “trip consolidation.” Come for the fencing and sump pumps, stay for the sheep vitamins and bird-seed.

The next step for Walmart is cutting out the clinic altogether. It's Sam's Club brand has already started to provide telemedicine, which is exactly what it sounds like. The timing could not be better.

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To contact the editor responsible for this story: Silvia Killingsworth at skillingswo2@bloomberg.net

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