Retailers Rush into Weight Loss Drug Market Amid Employer Retreat

Retail giants Walmart, Costco, and Amazon are aggressively pursuing the growing weight loss drug market as employers increasingly cut coverage for GLP-1 prescriptions. This shift is driven in part by employer pullback, with 6% of large employers pulling GLP-1 coverage this year, according to a Mercer survey.

Walmart, which operates over 4,600 pharmacies and ranks fifth nationally among prescription providers, has combined GLP-1 fulfillment with nutrition coaching, fitness apps, and AI-powered support tools in its Better Care Services platform. Amazon rolled out a GLP-1 management program in April, offering insured pricing starting at $25 a month and same-day delivery across nearly 3,000 cities.

The major retailers' push into weight loss drugs is despite their track record of struggles in healthcare. Walmart shuttered its entire Walmart Health clinic network in 2024, while Amazon shut down its Amazon Care telehealth service in late 2022. The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program, which began July 1 and offers eligible Medicare beneficiaries weight loss drugs for $50 a month, adds another channel to the market.

Costco, through a partnership with Sesame, prices Wegovy at around $349 and requires a membership. The retailer that fills the prescription tends to sell the groceries too, and pharmacy is quietly becoming the membership battleground of American retail, said Jackie Swanson, managing partner at Gartner Consulting.