DISCOUNT Drug Stores (DDS) celebrated during its recent 12th national conference by highlighting an outstanding year of achievements from its franchise partners across Australia.
The group scooped top prize for Roy Morgan's Annual Customer Satisfaction Awards in the Chemist & Pharmacy category for 2018 (PD 22 Feb 2019) and followed that up with a January win as well (PD 08 Apr 2019).
New initiatives announced included an advancement in clinical relationship management (CRM) software tool, Scrypt; a partnership with Doctors on Demand to allow customers to have an online in-pharmacy doctor's appointment; and the establishment of the DDS National Council to facilitate collaboration between stakeholders on the future of the DDS brand.
Acting Head of Sigma's Discount Pharmacy Retail Group (DPRG), Stephen Dunstan, said the conference was the perfect opportunity to connect with franchisees.
"As pharmacy services and programs are continually evolving, it's critical to be able to keep our franchise partners up to date so they can be better armed with the knowledge required to support their customers' needs," he said.
The event also celebrated the graduation of the first intake of future pharmacy leaders who had completed the DDS Leadership Program, announced at last year's conference.
Delegates received an update on the new "WholeLife Pharmacy & Healthfoods" retail models introduced last year, which officially joined the Sigma DPRG in Feb 2019 as part of a joint venture with WholeLife founders, Frank and Vince Pappalardo.
WholeLife already has nine sites in operation - six 'big box' models and three 'store within a store' - with plans to expand to 10 standalone WholeLife sites in the coming 12 months and further roll out the 'store within a store' concept in up to ten DDS sites.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 31 May 19
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