J.D. Power Study Shows Shifting Consumer Pharmacy Preferences

Consumer satisfaction with pharmacies at grocery stores, mass merchants, and mail order continues to grow, as chain drugstores see their numbers going in the opposite direction, according to J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Pharmacy Study.

The survey of 14,700 pharmacy customers who filled a prescription over a 12-month period ending May 2025 found the highest consumer satisfaction for supermarkets (715), followed by mass merchants (706) and mail-order pharmacies (697). Chain drugstores trailed with a score of 643. Mail-order pharmacies show the largest year-over-year gains in satisfaction, rising seven points in 2025.

"Chain drugstore customers are significantly more likely than supermarket or mass merchandiser pharmacy customers to say they 'definitely will' or 'probably will' switch pharmacies in the next 12 months," said Christopher Lis, managing director of global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power. "That openness to switching, combined with steadily increasing satisfaction scores at mail-order pharmacies, helps set the stage for a tipping point in the pharmacy space."

According to J.D. Power, supermarkets and mass market retailers are outperforming chain drugstores in several areas including having sufficient staff, trust in pharmacists, ease of ordering prescriptions, and prescriptions being filled quickly.

Driving satisfaction scores with mail-order pharmacies are their digital channels that include websites, mobile apps and texting, along with their overall service that allows consumers to save time and money. 

The majority (63%) of mail-order pharmacy customers said they are either "very interested" or "somewhat interested" in using a digital pharmacy to fill their prescriptions, up five percentage points from 2024.

However, J.D. Power said digital pharmacies have work to do on consumer awareness. Although interest in digital pharmacies is growing, 33% of pharmacy customers are still not aware of any digital pharmacy brands. Among the 67% of customers who are aware, the majority (58%) are aware of Amazon Pharmacy. Other providers in the space have significantly lower levels of brand recognition.

Study Rankings

• Health Mart ranks highest among brick-and-mortar chain drugstore pharmacies, with a score of 759. Good Neighbor Pharmacy (732) ranks second.
• Sam's Club ranks highest among brick-and-mortar mass merchandiser pharmacies for a 10th consecutive year, with a score of 778. Costco (765) ranks second.
• Wegmans ranks highest among brick-and-mortar supermarket pharmacies with a score of 764. Publix (760) ranks second and H-E-B (756) ranks third.
• PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy ranks highest in the mail-order segment for the second consecutive year, with a score of 745. Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy (740) ranks second and Amazon Pharmacy (734) ranks third.