Thriving through the transformative impacts of COVID in pharmacy

Last month, I sat down for an exclusive interview with Retail Pharmacy Magazine to discuss the impact COVID has had on our industry and the areas pharmacy should be focusing on for growth opportunities.

?Today, I’d like to share some of the points highlighted within the article to help inform trends and opportunities we are seeing in today's pharmacy landscape. ?

?COVID has highlighted three ‘gaps’ for pharmacy to focus on.

?While the industry, has undoubtedly shown its resilience and dedication throughout the pandemic, the increase in demands and ongoing need to ‘pivot’ has highlighted some areas for improvement.

?Workforce: Our people are at the heart of our work. The pandemic has highlighted just how fragile our professional workforce is, with many pharmacy teams experiences staff shortages. The pandemic magnified the overreliance on the pharmacists, especially for proprietors and managing pharmacists. To achieve success moving forward, innovation across our employment models is needed to better reward those in management roles, attract new talent, and redefine roles for pharmacists and managers to optimise their skillset.

Technology: In parallel to address workforce and productivity issues, it has also become clear that pharmacy needs to improve on innovation to keep at pace with the speed of changing technology. Whether this be through intelligent inventory and retail back-end systems, dispensary automation solutions or improving the consumer journey, remaining up to date with emerging technologies is key to business success. ?

?Sustainability: We know from the recent federal election that sustainability is not just a trend but the foundation of any successful commercial and business strategy. Over the past few years, Sigma Healthcare has been making strides in its sustainability commitment. Most recently, we’ve introduced sustainable promotional stands within all our retail pharmacies, reducing our point-of-sale collateral waste by more than 300 tonnes a year. ?

?So, where to from here?

?Less is more when it comes to business strategy.

?Focus on prioritisation and simplification. Identifying two to three points of difference can help to provide clarity on your purpose for both your team and consumers. ??

?Play to your strengths: Evaluate your brand’s DNA. Ask your team, family, and friends what your pharmacy is known for. Is it skewed toward price, product range/exclusives, shopping experience, service, advice, or prescriptions? Now more than ever, a distinctive brand proposition has the power to drive foot traffic and repeat customers.

Build a great team, not just a workforce: Investing in people, processes, and support technologies enable you to develop team culture and make your business an employer of choice. By elevating experienced non-pharmacist team members into management roles across retail and dispensary, while also equipping them with the skills to deliver in these roles. By acknowledging and rewarding your staff, they will feel valued, and retention will improve as they see career progression.

?Know your numbers: Pharmacy is big business, and we must understand our numbers. Set KPIs that you and the team can reference on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Knowing your numbers unlocks understanding and opportunity for sales growth and expense management, while also sharpening our team’s focus on success measures. Remember, reward and recognition can go a long way in driving culture and team performance.

?What areas do you think pharmacy needs to focus on in 2023? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

?Thanks again to Retail Pharmacy Magazine for the opportunity.

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