Dear pharmacists, Different Digital tools at your disposal to grow your pharmacy sales in Nigeria

27 October 2021

Dear pharmacists, Different Digital tools at your disposal to grow your pharmacy sales in Nigeria

Hello there, 

Running a retail pharmacy in Nigeria is not for the faint of heart. A lot of retail pharmacy outlets keep opening up each and every day, which makes the competition even more intense. At one moment, maybe there were just 10 pharmacies in your local government, and before you knew what was going on, there are now more than 70 pharmacies all competing for the same set of customers. Which of course means that sales might begin to dwindle if you are not quick to differentiate your brand. 

A good question any pharmacy owner or superintendent pharmacy will ask is “How do I differentiate myself from others?”, “How do we keep growing the sales number even with the competition”?

While there are different non-digital methods you possibly could have heard of, the focus here is leveraging available digital tools at your disposal to increase sales without putting in so much cost. While most people are taking loans to set up more retail chains, there are other routes you can take if you don’t have the capital for this or if you really want to go digital. 

Quote – One of Nigeria’s Largest Retail Chain Pharmacy got investments in millions of dollars to be able to get to where they are today. The same pharmacy chain is launching Digital channels this year. Transforming your pharmacy digitally is the next big thing for all Brick and Mortar pharmacies.

1. Make Sure Your Pharmacy is listed on Google and Bing – Google My Business is a tool that improves the visibility of your business. For instance, if I am new to a location and I search for “pharmacy near me” on Google. The very first set of pharmacies I will see are the pharmacies that are listed on Google My Business. The results will not only show your pharmacy name, it will also show your phone number, address, opening time and other business information you wish to add. As at the time of writing this, google now allows you to upload products for sale using this tool. 
2. Have a dedicated Whatsapp/Telegram number for your pharmacy – If your pharmacy already has a phone number customers call you on, now is the time to put that number on Whatsapp/Telegram. And it is not enough to put this number on Whatsapp/Telegram, you need to ensure that you respond to messages
3. Have a digital record of your customers – I have worked with numerous pharmacies in the last few years, and this is one thing most of them fail to do. The assumption is that since you are in a location, people will just keep coming back, which is not entirely true. One thing that will shock you is that most people who come to your pharmacy for the first time can’t even remember the name of your pharmacy.  You need to effectively communicate with your customers. Have a way to get their details, phone number or email address at the point of payment and reach out to them after their purchase. Get feedback from them and see how you can improve your services. 

If you are unable to get their details at the point of purchase, ensure that you publicize your whatsapp/telegram numbers so they can contact you directly for their next purchase.

1. Virtual Rx – Sales is the lifeblood of any business, especially the pharmacy business. You want to make more sales? Then sign up your pharmacy on Virtual Rx and fulfil drugs and medical devices requests within and outside your location. 

As a pharmacy that’s going digital, you are going to experience similar problems you are experiencing offline. Customers will ask for drugs you don’t stock or that are out of stock, but with Virtual Rx, you can also search other retail and wholesale pharmacies for the drugs and get feedback in 15 to 30 minutes on the availability and price. Once you or your customer is fine with the price, it can then be delivered to your location or to your customer’s location. 

Gone are the days when someone walks into your store and you turn them away, now you should go the extra mile to source the drugs for them and make your money. Doing this also prevents them from patronizing quacks. 

Extra Point: 

Effective Customer Service Delivery – It might sound like something you have heard before but this is one of the things that will stand you out as a brand. 

People patronize brands, not just pharmacy outlets. Some customers will travel kilometers just to buy from their usual pharmacies. That’s because the brand has left a positive impression on them. I can’t over emphasize the importance of an effective customer delivery service that truly cares about the plight of the customer and not just the money that can be gotten from them.