Shoplifting, retail crime in pharmacies driving customers to Amazon, CEO says

The high rate of crime in U.S. cities is contributing to customers' migration to Amazon, the shopping platform's CEO thinks.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Thursday in an investors' meeting that the increasingly unpleasant experience of visiting an urban pharmacy had pushed many shoppers online for their necessities.

Jassy called going to a regular pharmacy in an urban environment a "pretty tough experience with how much is locked behind cabinets… where you have to press a button to get somebody to come out and open the cabinets for you… and shoplifting going on in the store."

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"The combination of what's happened in the physical world and how much improvement we've made to our pharmacy experience is driving a lot of customers," he continued.

Amazon rolled out its pharmaceutical services in late 2020 — the business has only grown as the website continues to expand its offerings beyond its initial limited inventory.

Increased crime in urban centers over the past few years has forced pharmacy chains like CVS to either shutter stores or bolster security to include obstacles like locked cabinets.

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The issue for chains in many cities is the local governments' lack of follow-through on punishment for shoplifters.

CVS CEO Karen Lynch said earlier this year that the company is working with attorneys general in order to try and stop the brazen retail theft that is proliferating in the industry. 

While speaking with "CBS Evening News" in March, Lynch explained that even less expensive products are locked up because thieves are coming in and "ripping through…the entire counter."

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She recalled watching a clip of a car driving through the front door of one of its stores at night — six men jumped out and "ransacked the entire CVS," she said. 

The company has implemented new safety measures over the last few years. However, Lynch said they are also "working very closely with law enforcement and with attorneys general because they're not being prosecuted, and they need to be."