Business Nature of Community Pharmacy

Introduction

A community pharmacy preceptor once told me that tidying up the shelves at the pharmacy counter each morning before starting business not only gives a good impression to customers because the items are neatly arranged, but it also makes you feel good to start a day.

• This simple act reflects the importance of customer service and attention to detail, both of which are essential for success in the competitive community pharmacy landscape.

The Reality

Community pharmacy customers come from all walks of life.

• Some may choose your pharmacy for convenience, while others may have heard of your brand or be attracted by lower prices.
• Ideally, we would like all of these potential customers to become loyal followers, but this is unrealistic.

To survive in today's market, community pharmacists need to be business savvy.

• After all, community pharmacy is a business that aims to generate profit to sustain long-term growth.
• Like any business, community pharmacies need a positive income to cover expenses such as electricity, water, rent, staff wages and losses stemming from expired stock.

Ethics in Business

While community pharmacies operate for profit, they still hold a responsibility to provide valuable healthcare services and medication expertise to the community.

• Product recommendations should be based on professional clinical judgement, not solely on incentives.
• The ideal situation is to recommend an excellent value product that also has a healthy profit margin.
• Remember, product incentives can be used to drive sales, but they should not create a toxic work environment or damage the pharmacist's reputation.

The Current Price War

Over the years, new pharmacies have mushroomed everywhere, partly due to the increasing number of registered pharmacists at Malaysia.

• The has led to a situation where many community pharmacies are situated next to each other, providing more choices for consumers, but also making the price war fiercer, which at worst, ends in mutual annihilation.

Offering a cheaper price is often a plus point, but this is at the expense of lower profit margin.

• This business strategy does not work long-term.
• Once huge volume of customers could not offset the operating cost, then your business is doomed.
• Hence, to sustain a business, we are not only hoping to see growth in sales, but also net profit.

Pharmacy business should not fight on price, but on quality service.

• Nonetheless, there could be times that you find the main priority to some customer remains the price of the product, disregarding the lengthy, detailed counselling that you have just provided.
• To some customers, your counselling is not even worth a RM1.

Summary

Looking ahead, will physical community pharmacies be overtaken by online shopping within the next decade?

• Presently, we have observed that newer generations are more likely to shop online, ranging from electronic, clothing, groceries and even meals.
  

However, I firmly believe that there will always be a need for human touch.

• Additionally, community pharmacists must be agile in adapting to the changing landscape to remain competitive, embracing concepts such as online shopping, home brand products and teleconsulting.