O e-commercehas become increasingly popular in recent years, mainly because of the pandemic that has affected the whole world. One of the areas that has stood out is pharmacy e-commerce, which is increasingly actively using online channels in its sales strategy.
According to a report released by Neotrust (a company specialized in e-commerce data), in the first three months of 2022, e-commerce in Brazil earned R$ 39.6 billion for companies, and in 2021 the sales of medicines over the Internet increased 86.9%.
When buying from an online pharmacythe customer can have access to a wider variety of products, and is especially important for people who have difficulty moving, or even for those who prefer to have the convenience of purchasing the products without leaving home.
In this article we will address the functionalities that will boost your e-commercein the pharmaceutical pharmaceutical sector and that allow the user to have a more complete experience.
The main functionalities to boost your e-commerce
The functionalities in e-commerce are essential to improve the user experience user experience and ensure that they have a satisfying buying journey. These tools include everything from product search to checkout.
The purpose of these features is to facilitate navigation and make the purchase quicker, easier, and more enjoyable. They also help the merchant to better understand customer behavior and make strategic decisions to increase sales.
Therefore, it is essential that the merchant invest in features in e-commerce to increase conversion of their sales. For pharmacy e-commerce, some interesting functionalities are:
Search for products
Product search is an essential feature in any e-commerce, but it is even more important in an online pharmacy. Where customers need to easily find the products they are looking for, either by name, brand, or category.
By using search, the user does not have to navigate through several categories or pages of the site. This saves time and makes the buying journey more efficient. In addition, it helps to better understand the customer's needs, since it is possible to monitor the searches carried out and identify which products are most in demand. This allows the retailer to adapt inventory and marketing strategies to meet customer demands.
Product categorization
Another important feature is product categorization. Where customers should be able to easily navigate between categories, it helps improve the overall user experience. When customers find what they are looking for easily, they tend to feel more satisfied with the store and more likely to make purchases again in the future.
Categorizing products also helps the retailer to better manage inventory and identify which products are going out the most. Based on the most popular categories, it is possible to adapt marketing and stock strategies to meet customer demands.
Recurring sales
Differentiated business models can also be inserted in the pharmaceutical sector. This is the case of recurring sales, which are nothing more than the scheduling of future transactions. Customers who make frequent use of a certain product can register on the site, choosing the period in which they want to receive the item in their homes. It works like an e-commerce subscription. In addition, the customer does not need to worry about shopping constantly and running out of the medicine at important moments.
The recurring sale is an opportunity to build customer loyalty, since the customer becomes a frequent and constant buyer. This helps ensure a more stable and predictable cash flow, and improves the inventory forecast. The retailer can also offer discounts and special promotions to customers enrolled in recurring sales, which can help attract new customers and increase revenue.
Medical Prescription
The Codeby team developed a functionality for the need of medical prescription, the , which adds new flows in the product page, in order to manage controlled/thermolabile products, sending the prescription to the store that will send the product through an e-mail to validate the information.
The functionality helped in the online sales of products that need specific information from the consumer, increasing the variety of items with specific characteristics in the digital channels of pharmacies. This functionality also contributes to the shopkeeper's management of these products.
Read more: VTEX IO Functionality: Disclaimer App for Extrafarma - Codeby
Manufacturer discounts
In offline retail pharmacies, it is common to have special discounts from the manufacturing industry.
In online it is also possible to give this kind of discount through integration with partner benefit programs, which can make discounts on selected products available to the end customer.
The discount option appears on the pages of the products that participate in the program. Through some components, the customer can register and use the discount if he already has an account linked to his CPF in the program. When he agrees to the terms, the discount is inserted into the product.
This functionality was developed by the Codeby team , which built a purchase flow and integrated external systems with the VTEX PLATFORM. The project was developed for the e-commerce of Extrafarma e-commerce e-commerce, which already uses it in its online strategy.
Finally, with these features, it is possible to boost your pharmacy e-commerce and offer a more complete and efficient shopping experience for customers. In addition, it is important to always seek new features and improvements to stay competitive in the market. Get in touch with contact with one of our specialists and see how Codeby can evolve your project.
