We have made millions in revenue with our partners and online pharmacies.
At the beginning we had to learn a few things the hard way. To protect you from making the same mistakes – we share some learnings.
➡️ These 9 things are crucial:
Margin calculation: You must know the margins of your category so that you do not offer too much or too little margin to the online pharmacies.
Marketing campaigns: 2/3 of all partners invest into marketing campaigns with online pharmacies to raise brand awareness and support the sell-out.
Sell-through: Keep in touch to see how the products are rotating. Ask for sell-out figures early. This way you got ample time to take action proactively with promotions and the like. If you forget to keep track, the next thing you may hear is that you got delisted.
Packaging: Most online pharmacies have almost fully developed packing lines and sorting machines. Sending a plain bottle or tin can won’t suffice. Most machines can’t grab them. If the pharmacy has to sort your products manually, this causes additional costs and makes your product less attractive.
Delivery conditions: They are extremely varied everywhere, very lengthy, and often require a highly individualized approach. Some online pharmacies might even refuse to accept the delivery if you deliver incorrectly.
Price matching: Online pharmacies want to offer competitive prices. Some want to be price leaders. So be careful with the discounts you’re granting. The discount you grant may end up to be the discount some pharmacies sell your product at.
Sales product data: It's best to pack all important product data sheets and packshots about your product into a compressed ZIP file or WeTransfer (or comparable) link. Bonus: if you want to save the online pharmacy time – label each file per product with its proper PZN.
Price agreements: They are not allowed. Period.
Special conditions: It’s best to leave no questions unanswered: payment terms? cash discounts? free shipping or ex works?
Those are our experiences with online pharmacies.
What were your experiences with German and Austrian online pharmacies? Would you add anything in particular?
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