Walgreens reportedly expanding robotic prescription micro-fulfillment
A major pharmacy retailer is reportedly ramping up to fill medication prescriptions at 5,000-plus stores using robotic automation.
Walgreens aims to have its 11 robotic micro-fulfillment centers spread across the U.S. fill prescriptions at more than 5,000 stores by the end of 2025, according to CNBC.
This compares to 4,800 stores in February 2025 and 4,300 stores in October 2023. Walgreens told CNBC micro-fulfillment centers filled an average of 40% of all prescriptions at stores where they were used for support. Human pharmacists manually fill prescription orders that involve controlled substances and/or are time-sensitive.
Micro-fulfillment centers use robotic technology to automate tasks such as picking and packing, reducing the need for manual labor and also enabling more inventory to fit into a smaller space.
Walgreens initially launched its prescription micro-fulfillment program in 2021 at an automated facility in the Dallas area specifically focused on rapid fulfillment of customer prescription orders.
[READ MORE: Robots help Walgreens fill prescriptions in micro-fulfillment hubs]
Walgreens fills roughly 16 million prescriptions per month using micro-fulfillment and has reportedly saved about $500 million, with a 13% decrease in overall prescription fulfillment costs and 126% growth in prescription volume since 2024, via inventory reduction and efficiency gains.
"Right now, (micro-fulfillment centers) are the backbone to really help us offset some of the workload in our stores, to obviously allow more time for our pharmacists and technicians to spend time with patients," Rick Gates, Walgreens’ chief pharmacy officer, told CNBC. "It gives us a lot more flexibility to bring down costs, to increase the care and increase speed to therapy.”
Walgreens also seeks to ease the burden of manually filling prescriptions on pharmacy employees, giving them more time to engage in dialogue with customers and provide in-person services such as vaccinations.
Amazon Pharmacy uses robotic micro-fulfillment to help fill prescriptions, while Walgreens competitors including Albertsons, Kroger, and Walmart all utilize micro-fulfillment in their supply chains (not necessarily for prescriptions).
Walgreens focuses on pharmacy
Walgreens has been taking other steps to strengthen the pharmacy portion of its business. These include teaming up with talent development company Guild to launch PharmStart, a “first-of-its-kind,” fully-funded online education program designed to help eligible team members meet the prerequisite requirements for pharmacy school.
The company also offers 1,500 free in-store kiosks for safe disposal of expired medications and expanded same-day pharmacy delivery nationwide in January 2025.
