«Analysed a sample of 800 pharmacies it emerged that the 70% is on the web, at least through a presence on company search engines that report address and basic information but the 23% of the sample has a website»
Thursday, 13 November 2014 – Pharmacist33
Most of the pharmacies have a presence on the web, even if only within specialized search engines, but having a website is one quarter and less than the 8% makes online sales of the parapharmaceutical, even if there are not a few pharmacies that look to e-commerce for the future. This is one of the ideas that emerged from the speech by Philip Boschetti, principal of the consulting area of Ims Health, hosted within the Retail Salute event organized by Paola Gallas Networking which was held yesterday in Milan.
Many topics were touched upon, but a reflection on e-commerce in pharmacies also emerged: «From a recent Survey, in which we analyzed a sample of 800 pharmacies» explains Boschetti «it emerged that the 70% is on the web, at least through a presence on company search engines that report address and basic information but the 23% of the sample has a site and just under 8% makes online sales of products such as nutraceuticals, dermocosmetics and electromedicals.
An interesting fact is that the 70% of the pharmacies present with a sales channel is not satisfied, but does not disinvest, and indeed the 30% of the sample claims to look at e-commerce as a possibility for the future».
Among the issues addressed in the speech, there was also a focus on the methods of approaching retail companies to pharmacies: «There is an ongoing» continues Boschetti «a review of the commercial model of companies in their relationship to the pharmacy. In fact, some companies have decided to support their internal sales force, made up of agents, experts, sometimes external: the trend is no longer just to finalize the visit to the pharmacy for order collection and stock management but to enrich the service with light medical-scientific education, commercial education, with a focus for example on merchandising, category management, or training on management or negotiation techniques and so on».
Therefore, a visit that «offers additional and more specialized services, somehow close to what is offered by many cooperatives and aggregations». Another phenomenon is also highlighted: «In the face of a progressive disinvestment by pharmaceutical companies in general practitioners in favor instead of greater attention to pharmacies - so much so that from 2010 to today there has been a reduction in promotional investments in the doctor of 7.9% and an increase in direct pharmacy sales of 3.2% -, the collaboration between doctors and pharmacists, also linked to the context of territorialisation of care, is seen by companies with interest, in terms of possibility of territorial control".
Frances Giani
