Trends and predictions for retail pharmacies in 2022

Dec 31, 2021 | Articles

Here’s the big trends I’ve seen in retail pharmacy in 2021 along with my predictions for the year ahead.

Here’s the big trends I’ve seen in retail pharmacy in 2021 along with my predictions for the year ahead:

Trends	Predictions
1. Face mask sales are booming	These will continue to be a top-seller and you should ensure that re-usable masks are in a hot-spot near your counter
2. Vaccinations drive pharmacy traffic	Pharmacies providing this service to their community will grow their market-share
3. Cosmetics and beauty sales declined by -20%	Most pharmacies will remove the large franchise cosmetics stands (e.g. Revlon and L’Oreal) if they haven’t already
4. Health supplements sales have become more specialised	Pharmacies that support the premium / specialty brands with trained staff will continue to grow their sales as commodity brands decline in pharmacy
5. Services in pharmacy are growing	Ear Piercing is the most frequently searched pharmacy service – and it is likely that Passport Photos will bounce back in 2022
6. The most successful pharmacies are keeping their retail price margins high (around 50% Gross Margin)	Pharmacies that introduce a discounting policy to try to compete with Chemist Warehouse will struggle to be profitable
7. The most critical convenience-factor for retail success is convenient car-parking	Central-city pharmacies will continue to decline
8. The most critical loyalty-factor for retail success is highly engaged customer service staff	Pharmacies with a skilled staff member to triage customers at their prescription counter will grow their customer-base
9. Online sales are small but growing	For most pharmacies a full e-commerce offering is not cost-effective, but selling a selected range of key products online will become more important
10. Digital communications are the new-normal	Customers expect script reminders, online repeat requests, online booking tools and regular emails from their pharmacy