Pharmacies stand on a menacing precipice. Doe-eyed with uncertainty, they overlook an approaching technical juggernaut. As the interconnected online-giant stomps forward—stamping-out competition and cunningly capturing one product category at a time—pharmacies are left with one question: “How do we survive?”.
Over the last century, change has been a constant process with retail pharmacies. And once again there seems to be an opportunity for retail pharmacies to become the center of the medical community, as they once were.
From their previous, more inclusive role, pharmacists were moved to the back counter as they no longer were part of diagnosing and treating patients. Their primary duty was to faithfully provide exactly what the doctor ordered, in a timely fashion. Prescription drugs were standardized and made to be a commodity. The motivation to go to one pharmacy over another was based on cost and convenience, less on relationships. As drug insurance coverage became more prevalent, even cost became a non-issue. Convenience became the single driving factor.
So, the question becomes, are stand-alone retail and grocery pharmacies dinosaurs on the verge of extinction? Will some large online providers wipe out the need for retail pharmacies altogether? Based on what occurs in the field, the opposite may be true.
History shows, the underlying theme, and a key driver to attract customers, is still convenience. Full-spectrum convenience doesn’t just include time and accessibility to the product. It also contains the all-important human factor of acquired knowledge, personability, and empathy. When it comes to someone’s health, it is a solid argument that real human concern is best met with real human answers, and a human touch.
Find out more here: NCPA – National Community Pharmacists Association