How to improve the consumer experience in pharmaceutical e-commerce
First of all, did you know that the pharmacy market earned 152.1 billion BRL in 2021? Information is from IQVIA – a multinational health information technology and clinical analytics company. The value is 10.8% higher than the previous year: R$ 137.3 billion. Pharmaceutical e-commerce enters this context to increase sales in the sector.
If you’re looking for tips to increase sales in pharmaceutical e-commerce, you’ve come to the right place. We will provide some guidance in this regard below. Look at that!
Growth of pharmaceutical e-commerce
According to Neotrust, online drug sales grew 87% in 2021. If you compare the growth from 2019 to 2020, the percentage is even higher: a 102% increase in revenue. That’s a pretty significant increase, isn’t it?
There’s more: according to the MCC-ENET index, in September 2021, the category of pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products accounted for 6.7% of the sales market share in Brazilian e-commerce. In April 2022, this percentage increased to 7.3%.
Figures show that pharmaceutical e-commerce has fallen out of favor with consumers. After all, it is now possible to buy vitamins, nutritional supplements, hygiene and beauty products, non-prescription drugs and even prescription drugs online – with a prescription, of course.
Tips for improving user experience
As you can see, online shopping has become a habit among consumers. And the logic also applies to items sold in pharmacies.
However, to achieve positive results, it is not enough to open an e-shop and advertise medicines there. Successful e-commerce is based on planning and strategies. Then we’ll give you some tips on how to improve the user experience and sell more. Check it out!
Invest in pharmaceutical e-commerce reviews
First, reviews are reports from real consumers about their experience with a product, service or brand. Opening this space in e-commerce is a way of conveying credibility and attracting other consumers.
Think about it: the information read in this field can help the buyer clarify their doubts and make a purchase decision. Not to mention that this is a transparency tool that shows if a store is trustworthy or not.
In addition to ensuring a good user experience, reviews are still useful for improving a site’s positioning in organic rankings, increasing conversion rates and, of course, increasing business revenue. So it’s worth investing!
Study consumer behavior
Studying consumer behavior is a basic rule for planning any business. After all, based on the wishes and needs of your audience, you can clearly define the ideal mix of products, service channels, develop attractive offers, identify threats and so on.
So do your market research to better understand your audience’s habits. In fact, it’s even worth investing in data collection, storage and analysis tools. Reviews, for example, are useful in this sense because they provide important information about customer tastes.
Sell as a subscription
Anyone who buys a new cell phone today is likely to buy an electronic one again in a year, right? In the case of the drug market, this frequency of purchase is slightly different.
Those who, for example, take prescription drugs, must buy the product every month. The same logic applies to buying diapers, soaps, sunscreens, vitamins, shampoos, conditioners, etc.
Moral of the story: You can use this opportunity to retain the customer and provide some predictability of revenue. In this context, our advice is to sell by subscription.
It works more or less like this: First, the consumer selects products, delivery frequency and registers a credit card for pickup. When the scheduled date arrives, the order is automatically closed and sent to the consumer. Simple, practical and safe.
To encourage this registration, it is worth offering subscriber discounts, exclusive benefits, personalized gifts and so on.
Implement a digital strategy in your e-commerce
Do you know when a consumer buys an item on e-commerce but chooses to pick up the product in-store? Well, this unity between physical and digital channels is known as fictitious. Implementing this integration is interesting to increase sales potential even more, you know?
In this context, the customer can enjoy the best of both worlds: the most attractive prices in e-commerce and quick access to the product provided by physical pharmacies.
In any case, it is worth remembering that it is important to link all communication with a good omnichannel strategy. Ultimately, when the consumer is going to pick up the product, consistency in brand language should be observed.
Remember the aftermarket
The sales process does not end after the consumer makes the payment. In fact, it’s nice to keep a close eye on the entire process to ensure good end-to-end experiences: e-commerce browsing, checkout, customer service, shipping service, and of course, after-sales.
On occasion, it is possible to apply satisfaction surveys, collect reviews, send discount coupons to encourage new purchases, among others.
In fact, there is another very important point: crisis management. You see, every business is subject to failure. There may be delays in delivery, shipment of replaced goods, products damaged during transport and so on.
The company must be ready to deal with these troubles with empathy and quick solutions. In this way, in addition to reversing dissatisfaction, it is possible to increase brand credibility and loyalty. That is why after-sales service deserves special attention.
In conclusion: pharmaceutical e-commerce is booming. After all, consumers love the convenience of online shopping and pharmacy items are also included in this package. However, in order to succeed in sales, it is important to plan, see? A good tip is to invest in reviews to gain customer trust and convert sales.
