INTHEBLACK February 2025 - Magazine - Page 35
Retail pharmacy is a highly
regulated sector that requires
deep specialisation to fully
understand.
Pharmacy sectors in Australia
and Asia are growing, while
community pharmacies in
New Zealand are suffering.
Successful community
pharmacies in Australia
differentiate through service
and will develop direct health
offerings in the future.
Pharmacy:
prescription
for change
Successful retail pharmacy demands a deep focus on customer
relationships, the adoption of cutting-edge technology and the patience
and skills to find opportunity in an environment of massive change.
Words Chris Sheedy
PHARMACIST BRENDAN O’LOUGHLIN
had a robotic picking and packing system
installed in his pharmacy to weigh and
record incoming stock, discard damaged
boxes, scan expiry dates and pack products
away neatly. The investment had little to
do with technology, he says. Instead, it had
everything to do with people.
“That machine saves us two hours each day
in stock-management time,” says O’Loughlin,
owner of O’Loughlin’s Medical Pharmacy
in Sydney’s St Ives. “It’s easier for the
pharmacists to do their job now.
“That means we’ll attract more great
pharmacists who want to spend their time
developing relationships with patients,
as opposed to doing factory work.”
Relationships is what the community
side of retail pharmacy is all about,
O’Loughlin says. While the big-box
discount chains such as Chemist Warehouse
and Priceline Pharmacy compete primarily
on price, successful community pharmacies
focus instead on service.
“One of the beautiful things a
pharmacy provides to its local community
is a long-term relationship with a very
accessible healthcare professional,”
O’Loughlin says.
“I think it’s very hard in a franchise or
corporate model to get that length of tenure,
where you have seen children grow into
adults and they remember you for the care
you showed them.”
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 35
