There is no doubt that the last four years have been the most difficult in pharmacy history.  The disruptive forces have included the Covid lockdowns, the chaos caused by emailed prescriptions, the loss of experienced staff from the sector, the spread of discount pharmacies, a primary health sector in disarray, a shortage of qualified staff, rampant wage increases, and the inflationary economy. These pressures have resulted in a significant decline in pharmacy profits, and there will undoubtedly be more pharmacy closures ahead. But for many pharmacy owners the worst appears to be over ..read more

Independent pharmacies are working incredibly hard to support the health of their communities. Following our recent Business Health Weekends for IPG members we presented "The Future of Pharmacy" seminar to help independent pharmacies to see the opportunities ahead. Check out the presentation summary and get in touch if we can help you to navigate these changes ..read more

A robust strategy for dealing with the burden of staff shortages is no longer just a nice-to-have, it’s necessary for retail survival.   Staff shortages are here to stay and the last four years have seen a significant loss of expertise and experience on the shop floor, not just in the dispensary. Doing more with less has now become the norm.   Range rationalisation is a strategy which can improve financial performance, streamline the way you manage pharmacy operations and enhance the customer experience. Let's delve into how range rationalisation benefits pharmacies and cus ..read more

Customer service is increasingly critical these days. According to a Gallup survey (bit.ly/Gallup-workplace) of 18,665 employees in the USA, customers are becoming more demanding and expect higher levels of service. The Covid-19 pandemic has heightened customer expectations, contributing to survey results that reported staff feeling burned out at work “very often” or “always”.   “Customers are more demanding and are less tolerant of any perception of failure or error.”   “Customers expect to be waited on immediately. They want personal service, and no one else matters. They are first ..read more

With the increased competitive pressure on pharmacies, it is more important than ever to ensure you are optimising your use of the capital invested in your business. Most pharmacies have $50,000 to $100,000 invested in retail stock and the larger retail businesses have many times this amount. How do you know if you are getting a good return on this significant investment? If you were investing in shares you would spread your investment based on the risk and return in each company in your portfolio. It makes sense to look at the stockholding in your shop in the same way. The best method is to c ..read more

The Pharmacy sector has had a year of mixed fortunes. The good news included the removal of the $5 prescription fee and the trial of funded pharmacist consultations for common conditions. On the bad side we saw prescription remuneration increased at less than the rate of inflation, workforce shortages led to an escalation in wages and locum fees, and the broken process for emailed scripts continues to overwhelm most dispensaries. As with any period of rapid change, there are significant gains to be had by the pharmacy teams that can identify and act on the opportunities that have arisen. Here ..read more

There are a number of misunderstandings about the impact of ecommerce on your bricks-and-mortar, specialty retail store. It is easy to get swept along in all of the hype about online retailing but it is important to keep things in perspective by looking at the facts. Ecommerce is growing - TRUE Worldwide e-commerce continues to grow at a faster rate than total retail sales. In the global market, online’s share of all retailing is 16% and will increase by an average of 6.6% per year to reach 20% of all retail by 2027. 1 NZ e-commerce makes up 10% of retailing and will grow to 14% by 2027. 2 Th ..read more

Business ownership is not for the faint-hearted. A good example of this is in NZ retail pharmacies where ownership requires an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a business that is under-paid, with staff that are overworked, in a sector that is suffering a serious workforce shortage. And now there is a risk that the business valuation after years of toil may be low or non-existent. More than ever before we are seeing pharmacies closing down when it becomes impossible to sell them as a going concern. When there are industry players prepared to “do-it-for-less” the funders are in ..read more

Community pharmacies are under increasing pressure from multiple competitive threats, including a growing number of discount pharmacies, online pharmacies such as Pilldrop and Zoom, as well the ongoing business challenges of inadequate funding of dispensing, rising costs and the tight labour market. Front-of-store retailing is also under pressure from the growth of online retailers, supermarkets, department stores and retail specialty stores. The loss of profits from retail sales has exacerbated the challenges associated with workforce shortages and comes on top of the significant extra work i ..read more

Benchmark your retail performance Log in to RPM at https://live.rpmretail.com Use your email address and the password you created. If you have not requested your password get in touch with us today. Did you know….? Each KPI shows: · your store’s performance for the last 30 days · your ranking against other RPM subscribers · the group’s average result over the last 30 days · The Scoreboard is updated overnight – check it often! TIP: Click on the Graph link for any KPI and you can compare your store’s results Vs the group trend over the last 90 days. For online access to your daily retail pe ..read more