Buy online and collect in store or buy in store and receive at home.
Confused? There are so many ways to buy that the famous omnichannel grows to adapt to the profile of consumers. For those who still don’t know, omnichannel represents the integration of several sales channels, both online and offline, with the possibility of the user starting the purchase journey in one channel and ending in another. A simple example is when you access the pharmacy app, choose the medication and at the time of closing the purchase choose to pick up the product in store – your choice transferred you from the digital world to the physical world.
This integration is also available to service channels and make the shopping journey more satisfactory, allowing the client to shop and finish the purchase thru different means, with agility, efficiency and, mainly, without bureaucracy.
The concept has been applied in several market segments, but the recent highlight was the pharmaceutical sector. The increased investment of these companies in e-commerce, boosted by customer need, is already noticed by the retail consumers.
Contextualizing the pharmaceutical market
In 2021, 26 retail chains linked to the Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Chains (Abrafarma) closed the year with a revenue of R$67.5 billion, an increase of 16.04% compared to According to the entity, this is the highest growth recorded in the last ten years, and delivery and e-commerce operations grew by 56.8%, totaling R$ 2.8 billion in sales. Highlight: despite the above data, the physical store is still very important for the sector, including for consumers who get free medicines subsidized by the government and for the ease of commercialization of controlled medicines. Currently, Brazil accounts for about 2% of the world market. We are in 8th place in terms of revenue and will climb to 5th in 2023 – according to the Pharmaceutical Products Industry Union (Sindusfarma).
To think about
The growth, mentioned above, boosts omnicality and new shopping habits that are here to stay, due to the Covid-19 pandemic period. According to data from Intelipost (Logistics Solutions Company), between March 2020 and 2021, there was a 66% increase in sales through digital channels.
Other influencers in making the purchase decision that cannot be left out are benefit programs, partnerships with laboratories and discounts transfers from health plans – it is worth investing in these additional strategies.
In addition, those who use the omnichannel experience will have more advantages. A Harvard Business Review survey confirms that 7% of consumers intend to buy only online, 20% in physical stores and 73% in various channels.
For retail chains, it is worth noting: reconciling the new customer experience with the treasury, logistics and financial processes in a safe and satisfactory way is a challenge. It is necessary to invest time and money to deliver a quality journey and customer loyalty.
If you want to discuss more about the topic, or think of a solution for the purchase journey of your product or service, look for act digital, we are here to accelerate your digital transformation.