vivesco and dedendo make stationary pharmacies “internet-healthy”
11.10.2012 15:04
The Internet has been steadily gaining in importance as a sales channel in the pharmacy market for years - usually at the expense of retail pharmacies. Now vivesco (www.vivesco.de), together with the delivery service platform dedendo.de, is opening up the potential of mail order to stationary pharmacies. Through the cooperation, pharmacies can use a sophisticated online platform through which customers can order medication nationwide. The vivesco pharmacy partners guarantee nationwide delivery and advice. A strong media partnership will ensure awareness of the pioneering delivery service. The first pharmacies will go online as part of a test market at the end of the year. The participating pharmacies will then be gradually activated before the platform is made known with TV support in the first quarter of 2013.
What is needed: Flexible and safe medication supply
The pharmacy mail order business in Germany generates annual sales of around 1.3 billion euros – and the trend is rising. It is the need for flexible drug supply that makes online trading attractive for customers. The proportion of customers who have ordered medication online at least once has increased from 31 percent in 2007 to 62 percent in 2011. At the same time, pharmacy customers view online offers with healthy suspicion: 93 percent are afraid of counterfeits from mail-order pharmacies.
Because customers on dedendo.de order medication online from a local pharmacy they trust, they can be sure about the quality of the products. Personal delivery or collection also makes it possible to clarify questions about the medication or indication directly with the pharmacist. This creates trust and binds the customer more closely to the pharmacy. Another advantage for the customer: If they order on time, they can receive common medicines on the same day via dedendo.de - while the delivery time for conventional online mail order companies is two to four days.
Strong partners for the German pharmacy market
“We are proud to have a strong partner on board with vivesco for the distribution of pharmacy products,” says Mark-Michael Katenkamp, Managing Director of dedendo.de. “In this way, for the first time, the flexibility of online shopping and the advisory expertise and security of the local pharmacy complement each other.”
This is how dedendo.de works
On the dedendo.de website, customers first enter the indication or medication required. After clicking on the desired product, a detailed description of the indications, contraindications and ingredients appears. Prescriptions can also be redeemed quickly and easily via dedendo.de. The second step is what makes the service special: after entering the zip code, the customer receives an overview of all participating pharmacies that can deliver the desired medication on the same day or the next day at the latest. After the customer has decided on a pharmacy, they fill out their order online and pay directly by credit card, PayPal or instant bank transfer. Cash payment upon collection or delivery is also possible. The order is then sent directly to the selected pharmacy by email or fax. The pharmacist delivers the ordered medication as part of his usual courier service and also has the opportunity to provide the customer with individual advice if necessary. Advice from the pharmacist can also be requested directly when ordering on dedendo.de.
About vivesco (www.vivesco.de)
vivesco Apotheker-Partner GmbH is a cooperation with around 1,100 pharmacies and 9,000 employees throughout Germany. Since 2010, all vivesco pharmacies have carried the message “We want you healthy.” The claim is more than just a semantic trick. First and foremost, it says what vivesco pharmacists focus on: maintaining and restoring the health of their customers. For vivesco there is not just “health”, but many “healths”. Because health has a completely different meaning for everyone. Pharmacists see themselves as health advisors who help their customers get healthy or, even better, not get sick in the first place. vivesco also carries the life companion principle into the social web. The pharmacy cooperation enters into direct dialogue with end consumers on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
vivesco is a 100 percent subsidiary of Andreae-Noris Zahn AG (ANZAG). The pharmaceutical wholesaler ANZAG secures the concept and invests in the independent pharmacy. This allows vivesco to concentrate entirely on the needs of pharmacists and to tailor its services accordingly.
About dedendo.de (www.dedendo.de)
dedendo.de is a nationwide brokerage platform for the delivery of pharmacy products. Customers can order medicines, medical devices, nutritional supplements and cosmetics online from their local pharmacy and pay directly. This pharmacy delivers the ordered products directly to the desired location. dedendo.de is implementing the innovative messenger service concept together with the pharmacy cooperation vivesco. In this way, the flexibility of online trading and the competence and security of stationary pharmacies are sustainably linked. dedendo.de provides the platform and technology for this and provides participating pharmacies with incoming orders. The vivesco partner pharmacies are the contract partners of the end consumer and take over the advice and delivery of the pharmacy products. Pharmacies that are not yet part of vivesco's partner network can participate in dedendo via a vivesco online partnership - this means that the concept is open to every pharmacy nationwide.