Chewy will again expand its pet health care offerings with the launch of compounded medications for pets.
With the new service, pet owners can order customized, pharmaceutical-grade prescription medications from Chewy's Pharmacy. The pet e-commerce company (Nasdaq: CHWY), with headquarters in Boston and Florida's Dania Beach, plans to offer the service to vets in the future, according to a Thursday announcement.
The announcement comes two weeks after Chewy unveiled its telehealth for pets service "Connect with a Vet," which the company plans to expand nationally.
With vet clinics closed or less accessible than they were pre-Covid, the company is capitalizing on pet owners migrating toward alternative options. Chewy could add more pet health care products in the future such as pet insurance, CEO Sumit Singh said in the company's latest earnings call.
Chewy plans to dedicate three of its fulfillment centers to pharmacy operations by the end of 2020. Its fulfillment center in Louisville, Kentucky is currently used for pet pharmacy goods.
"Building off our relationship with both pet parents and veterinarians, Chewy is uniquely positioned to make pet health care more accessible and affordable for every American household," said Mita Malhotra, VP of Healthcare at Chewy. "By making these types of medications more widely available, we want to better serve pet parents who need a customized solution in an otherwise limited marketplace."
With its latest move, Chewy is chasing a larger share of the pet care market amid "historical" projected growth in consumer spending on pets, the company says. It first expanded into pet pharmaceuticals — a $9 billion market — in July 2018. Although PetSmart is no longer a direct shareholder of Chewy, its pharmacy operations are still conducted through a wholly-owned subsidiary of PetSmart, according to Chewy's latest earnings report. Chewy reported $21.6 million in net sales between February and August from the arrangement.
Total square feet of retain space in Eastern Massachusetts
| Rank | Prior Rank | Name/Prior rank (*unranked in 2018)/ |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Stop & Shop |
2 | 2 | Target |
3 | 3 | Walmart |
