1/22/20 - Amazon Files Trademarks For Amazon Pharmacy

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  

Introduction

This is Today in Five, for today, Wednesday, January 22nd. Here are today’s headlines in digital disruption.

Amazon has filed trademarks for Amazon Pharmacy, signaling the potential for the retail giant to move into selling prescription drugs outside the U.S.  

First, here are the latest headlines.

Payless ShoeSource Emerges from Chapter 11

Payless ShoeSource has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with a renewed focus on international operations. The company’s new managers said the U.S. is the, “biggest growth opportunity,” but didn’t specify their plans on how to achieve growth there. Payless closed all of its U.S. stores last year but continues to operate in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.  

DoorDash Now Leader in Digital Food Delivery

DoorDash’s growth in 2019 allowed it to edge past Grubhub to become the leader in digital food delivery, according to data from analytics firm Second Measure. Doordash captured a third of all digital food delivery sales, or 33 percent, in the U.S. market last year, putting it on top of Grubhub, which had 32 percent of sales in the category. Uber Eats followed with a 20 percent share and was trailed by Postmates, with 10 percent. Digital food delivery is projected to be a $467 billion dollar business by 2025, with food delivery sales growing 13 percent or more each of the past five years.  

Starbucks to Become "Resource Positive"

Starbucks has announced its plans to become, “resource positive,” when it comes to carbon, water, and waste. The coffee chain set preliminary goals for 2030 that included cutting carbon emissions in half, conserving or replenishing half of the water taken for coffee production, and reducing half of its waste. The company plans to formalize those goals by March 2021. The coffee company is among a growing number of businesses announcing sustainability goals as consumers grow increasingly concerned about climate change. BlackRock announced a week ago its plans to overhaul its investing strategy to make sustainability the new standard, and on Thursday, Microsoft said it’s trying to remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits by 2030. Starbucks CEO, Kevin Johnson, said, “By embracing a longer-term economic, equitable, and planetary value proposition for our company, we will create greater value for all stakeholders.”

Amazon Files Trademarks For Amazon Pharmacy

Amazon has filed to trademark Amazon Pharmacy in Canada, the U.K., and Australia, signaling a potential move into selling prescription drugs outside the U.S. According to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office website, Amazon filed for the patent on January 9th. The status is listed as pre-formalized. The trademark also lists other areas that Amazon Pharmacy could move into including surgical, medical dental instruments and pharmaceutical, as well as medical and veterinary preparations.  

Amazon began its move into the drug space in 2017 when it started to explore whether to build out a team. The following year, the retail giant acquired PillPack, a start-up that specializes in delivering medications to the home, signaling an early focus on the U.S. prescription drug market. The Amazon Pharmacy branding is relatively new. PillPack notified its customers at the end of 2019 that it would be including references to the brand in its printed materials and on its labels.  

Filing a trademark doesn’t necessarily mean that international expansion will happen in the near future, but it does suggest Amazon will eventually go global, which is in line with its typical business strategy.  

Closing

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Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. We’ll see you tomorrow.