It’s happening in almost every industry these days: as the world becomes more dependent on the internet and begins to expect instant gratification 24/7, the businesses that have been around for years start being replaced with internet-savvy businesses. For example, who wants to wait around for a prescription to be filled when online pharmacies can just send your medication right to your doorstep?
It would be understandable if independent pharmacies were worried by now. First, they have to deal with nationwide chain pharmacies. Now, they have to compete with online pharmacies. They’re starting to seem less convenient every day.
But there are a few reasons why real-life pharmacies are not going anywhere — at least, not because of online pharmacies. Here are just a few of those reasons:
- There are a few — very few — big pharmaceutical companies that operate legitimate businesses online and provide safe prescriptions to patients. But for the most part, online pharmacies are untrustworthy, and they sell patients fraudulent prescriptions. As awareness increases of these rogue companies, customers are becoming less trusting of online pharmacy services in general.
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t approve most drugs sold by online pharmacies for this very reason. It’s difficult to control quality through an online pharmacy, and customers really have no assurance that they’re getting the correct medication. As more people are made aware of these dangers — and know that the FDA rarely approves of these companies — less people will be willing to risk their health for a bit of convenience.
- The one thing that makes small pharmacies so successful is that they’re able to provide the highest quality customer service possible — even more so than big chain pharmacies. And online pharmacies… provide none. This becomes a serious problem if people are taking multiple medications, even if the online service sends the corrects drugs, because patients won’t always be warned of possible interactions or allergic reactions.
Many small pharmacy owners have already begun revamping their businesses — adding a greater variety of products, replacing their old POS system with newer retail pharmacy POS systems, and adding small medical services (like flu shots or blood pressure tests) — in order to compete with bigger pharmacies. And maybe small pharmacy owners still have to keep these chain stores in mind, but as far as online pharmacies go, real pharmacies have nothing to worry about. See this link for more. Helpful links.