Pharmacy Daily | Pharmacies must meet expectations

REGARDLESS of what business model pharmacy owners adopt it is crucial that their offering meets patients' expectations, Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, Trent Twomey, believes.

The Westpac/Guild Counting on Community Pharmacy insights report found that discount pharmacies have seen significant growth in transaction numbers of total customer spending over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transactions in discounters now account for 30.5% of sales in Australian community pharmacies, up from just over one-in-five in Jul 2019, while discount stores have seen a 64% increase in total spend over the same period.

Service-orientated pharmacies have seen a modest increase in total spend since Jul 2019 (8.7%), with total transaction numbers falling 4.3%.

The report said the growth of the discount sector may have been fuelled by an increase in store openings, with the authors noting that "there was a 1.8% contraction in spend per transaction at discount pharmacies overall".

"In contrast, spend at service-orientated pharmacies increased 13.4% per transaction," they said.

Twomey said that while discounters were generally perceived more as retail centres than health service destinations, "all pharmacies are a mix of both".

"Whether you're discount or service-based, those pharmacies that are making it easier for consumers to make decisions about whether they can access a product or service from their pharmacy before they set foot in the door are the ones that are doing really well," he said.

"It's vital that our profession meets the expectations of patients and consumers who may want to check on their mobile phone that they can access a flu jab, or that you have their particular antacid in stock."

In addition to seeing increased spending in pharmacies throughout the pandemic, the report noted that patients were "spending substantially more in pharmacies as of Dec 2021 compared to Jul 2019".

"Like the retail sector in general, community pharmacy retailing enjoys a bumper Dec, but people are also likely to be in store for more than just their Christmas shopping," the authors said, with patients who have reached the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Safety-Net seeking to access medicines before the New Year.