eCommerce and Pharmacy
July 15, 2013
“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in
Kansas any more!”
Dorothy, Wizard of Oz
And so it is with pharmacy.
Gone are the days of double digit
wholesale margins, ever-increasing
generic discounts, paper-based
PBS claims, complacent consumers
and an everlasting pipeline of
blockbuster generics; now replaced
with PBS Reform, internet-savvy
consumers, discount-model
pharmacies and increasing revenue
pressures. So maybe Pharmacy
is not so much the green and
lush Kansas of yesteryear, but
potentially a more windswept and
barren version instead?
e-Commerce, ‘apps’, cloudcomputing…
these are much more
than catch-cries from Silicon
Valley. It’s a way of doing business
that leverages the high-speed
computing and connectivity now
at our fingertips; to save money,
increase productivity, reach new
markets, find new suppliers. Here’s
a basic list of a growing number
of online solutions to drive your
business, many of which are free or
very affordable:
1. Accounting e.g. Xero
2. Staff rostering e.g. Rostermatic
3. Local Area Marketing e.g. Yelp
4. Professional networking e.g.
LinkedIn
5. Small Business News e.g.
Entrepreneur
6. Purchasing e.g. GoPharm
This is just a starting point. If you
can think of a business problem, it
is incredibly easy to find an article
online addressing your challenge,
and some kind of digital tool to
support your solution. It’s as simple
as clicking your heels and repeating,
“There’s no place like pharmacy,
there’s no place like pharmacy!”.
This week’s
contributor is
Rob Beveridge,
Commercial
Director at GoPharm.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 15 Jul 13To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 15 Jul 13
