Comments on: Survival Of The Fittest: Drugstore.com Reports First Quarterly Profit

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:05:42 +0000

Gail,

I just had an opportunity to read your comments.

I’m a customer care manager at drugstore.com and I’m very concerned that you had a negative experience with our customer care team. We’re committed to standing behind our products, and we make every effort to respond to emails in a timely and helpful manner.

I would be very happy to speak with you personally regarding any questions or concerns you’ve had with our products or services. If you contact our toll free customer care line at 1-800-drugstore and ask to speak with me (or any other member of our management team) I’m confident we can resolve your concerns and restore your faith in our company.

Greg

By: Gail

Gail — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:50:53 +0000

Profits won’t last long…their customer service sucks. They don’t stand behind the products they sell and they don’t answer e-mail requests for help.

By: SURVIVAL of the FITTEST and SUSTENANCE « Palashbiswaskl’s Weblog

SURVIVAL of the FITTEST and SUSTENANCE « Palashbiswaskl’s Weblog — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:16:06 +0000

[...] Survival Of The Fittest: Drugstore.com Reports First Quarterly Profit [...]

By: Alex Savic

Alex Savic — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:16:05 +0000

Here is our take on this very interesting story http://cli.gs/8UZZDB

By: Drugstore.com makes a profit after 10 years –

Drugstore.com makes a profit after 10 years – — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:06:22 +0000

[...] was a post on Techcrunch last Friday which alerted us to the fact that Drugstore.com, the worlds largest online pharmacy, [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:23:22 +0000

That seems like a long time to become profitable. I used them once and a week later someone got my CC number and charged a lot on it. It was suspicious since I didn’t use that card very often. So maybe for such a small outfit it did take 10 years to make it while a more established company like CVS could profit in a shorter time period.

By: Alexander Kintis

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:16:50 +0000

Wow, first time in ten years. There a “story” on their progression through the years?

How big of a company were they through the entire period? Ten years seems a bit much, nonetheless still noteworthy.

Hmm, do I smell an opportunity for a possible partnership with Beating Addiction (http://www.Beat...ngAddiction.com)?

By: Molly Bennett

Molly Bennett — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:49:58 +0000

Being profitable after 10 years as a dotcom really isn’t bad. Dotcom companies have always had a harder time showing profitability because it’s been such a new way to shop and companies needed to do a lot of fiddling to figure out how to make it a viable business model. Companies like drugstore are leading that chase. I remember when everyone thought it was insane to try to get people to buy stuff online, and drugstore.com was around for all of that; they weathered the storm, and have turned into a solid, profitable company. Good for them.

Also, it’s not a “pathetic excuse for a business.” A lot of people feel embarrassed purchasing certain “privacy” items in those brick and mortar stores. drugstore.com makes it a lot more comfortable, since you’re not having to look a cashier in the eye when buying condoms, tampons or adult diapers.

By: Molly Bennett

Molly Bennett — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:43:01 +0000

Not really. The Beauty.com acquisition was quite some time ago, and has extremely stiff competition from Sephora.

By: Tan The MAn

Tan The MAn — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:14:16 +0000

In this economy… sweet Jesus!

By: monitor

monitor — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:09:17 +0000

Nice looking margins.

I truly hope they do well. However, 1 profitably quarter out of 10 years of operation does not make it a ‘profitable’ company in my eyes.

By: Dominic SOn

Dominic SOn — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:42:44 +0000

Love it.

By: 適者生存の法則：Drugstore.comが初めて四半期利益を生み出した

適者生存の法則：Drugstore.comが初めて四半期利益を生み出した — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:40:11 +0000

[...] ［原文へ］ [...]

By: fizel

fizel — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:27:33 +0000

Uh, no this is not proof of anything. Think about all the drugstores around the country. How many of them can sustain operating losses for a decade?

None.

This is the most pathetic excuse for a business ever. All the money spent on this dog and it can’t outperform BRICK AND MORTAR stores? After a f-ing decade?

Give me a break. This is a terrible omen for the web and this category of product sales. Frankly, there is little to be made here. Revenue doesn’t necessarily a business make. Operating profit does. Being EBITDA positive does.

Raising 100s of millions of dollars and having a 10 year runway to prove that you could sell toothpaste online? Jeeez.

If you had opened inumerable nightclubs and restaurants you’d have earned more money this joke.

I say, sell the domain name to a group of Colombian crack dealers for 5M and close the damn thing down.

By: Hercules

Hercules — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:26:05 +0000

good to see things are getting better, maybe all of 2009 will be profitable if they can add more customers..

By: Business 2.0 Press

Business 2.0 Press — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:16:53 +0000

DrugStore.com Earns First Operating Profit, Net Loss for 2008…

Drugstore.com, the online pharmacy, has just announced its first operating profit, but it wasn’t enough to earn a profit for the year. The company reported net sales were $94 million and net income was $289,000. The company also added 400,000 n…

By: DrugsLocator.com

DrugsLocator.com — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:31:26 +0000

theres a fortune in failure.

By: Henway

Henway — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:53:18 +0000

Is this b/c they bought Beauty.com and thus acquired millions of fashionistas who like to buy perfume, makeup, and nail polish?

By: Peter Urban

Peter Urban — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:36:23 +0000

Good for them. Companies that turn profitable is definitely what we need right now

By: zia ahmad

zia ahmad — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:42:03 +0000

I personally dont really care but YAY drugstore!

By: Alex Wilhelm

Alex Wilhelm — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:31:10 +0000

Good news always makes me smile. The revenue numbers here are very impressive, especially given the total market saturation of their market by brick and mortar stores.

Proof that the internet works.