Are you interested in selling drugs online but don’t know the opportunities? The pharmaceutical sector recorded record sales in 2020, and the purchase of drugs is online. Find out what you need to know to open your online pharmacy.
The demand for online pharmaceutical products was high even before 2020, but the pandemic has increased the requests for this type of product exponentially, even from a less young target.
Having an online medical storemeans allowing an increasingly large number of buyers to make purchases in comfort. In a sector that was already in excellent health before 2020, the opportunities are still present.
The exponential growth known by the pharmaceutical sector in 2020 shows no signs of stopping, and the demand for pharmacy or para pharmaceutical products is on the rise. In the first months of 2020, compared to the same period of 2019, there was a growth of around 200%. Buying drugs online has become a solid buying habit.
The margins of pharmacies have increased due to several factors, including the liberalization of discounts. However, competition is increasingly fierce. For this reason, it is necessary to create a dynamic online medical store that offers added value: those who manage to define a correct sales strategy, however, have excellent chances of emerging and selling.
The 4 steps to open an online pharmacy
Suppose the parapharmacy or pharmacy does not provide OTC-SOP over-the-counter drugs that require authorization. In that case, anyone can open one even if, as we have seen, an analysis of the target must be made upstream to identify the right communication strategy that will aim online.
However, we can identify 4 steps to open an online pharmacy.
- Give the pharmacy a name, an identity, and a tone of voice
If e-commerce refers to a physical store in the area, the name can only be the same. Still, if you plan to open only an online medical store, you will have to give a precise identity to the store, in the form of the name, of the e-commerce logo, and design.
You will, therefore, also have to define your tone of voice. The communication as per the target audience but not according to your preferences. Remember that you will be talking to them, not to yourself.
- Find the e-commerce domain and online sales platform
Block most of the extensions related to your domain, but provide the main one (pharmaciasottocasa.com, for example). All the others will point to the main one. Therefore, the online medical store will have to be done on one platform, and there are several to choose from.
- Request ministerial authorization to sell drugs online
If the pharmacy makes OTC-SOP over-the-counter drugs available, you will need to request ministerial authorization to sell drugs online.
- Implement a correct pricing policy and the right communication strategy
As we have seen, selling drugs through an online medical store allows you to lower prices, become competitive and attract more buyers. However, you don’t have to play the discount, and you have to make precise evaluations on each product regarding how much you can go down with the price, also analyzing the competition.
Then define a communication strategy, which uses social networks and search engines to make yourself visible to online users.
Conclusion
Opening an online medical store generates benefits for both pharmacies and their customers. On the one hand, the possibility of increasing sales based on lower costs, on the other hand, the possibility of having products at lower prices and comfortably from home.
However, like everything related to online sales, even an online pharmacy or parapharmacy requires strategy: first, to understand the target audience, during, to adjust the shot in communication, and then to periodically analyze the results.
