How the web helps small pharmacy chains expedite deliveries to stores
Medicap Pharmacies Inc., a franchise chain of 200 independently owned and operated drugstores, expects to increase sales and profit margins through a web-based service designed to give store managers a jump on ordering hot products, Steve Sisler, vice president of procurement services, tells InternetRetailer.com.
"I`m trying to empower all Medicap stores to have at their fingertips the most current product information," he says. "When they get a notice through the web that a new product will launch in 14 days, they can immediately call their wholesaler or the vendor directly and get pre-booked for the first shipment."
The web-based service, ChainDrugStore.net, is used by more than 60 suppliers to provide product information to more than 33,000 stores in more than 145 retail chains. Launched in early 2001, the service initially allowed only retail company headquarters to access supplier information, but this year it expanded access to include individual stores, says Brad Mitchell, president and CEO of ChainDrugStore.net Inc., which is a unit of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. Retailers must register on ChainDrugStore.net to participate but they pay no fees; the service operates on fees paid by suppliers.
Now individual store managers at Medicap can use a web browser to check ChainDrugStore.net for new product launches and special promotions available from suppliers; the same information is also automatically sent to them in e-mail alerts. The system also provides news and educational information to help store managers improve customer service.
Medicap, whose network of pharmacies did $366 million in sales and filled nearly 8 million prescriptions last year, expects its franchisees to increase sales and profit margins by using the web-based service to get hot-selling products into its stores in due time to meet customer demand and avoid markdown prices, Sisler says. "The intent is to increase profit margins," he says. "But I`m a firm believer that profit today is not only generated at the point of retail sale, it`s also at the point of acquisition and distribution. That`s the only way we can compete with the large drugstore chains."
Back...
