Digital transformation is having a significant impact on the performance of the pharmaceutical industry. Using data and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve product positioning, promotions, inventory management and drug distribution.
I. The power of data in the pharmaceutical industry
As the pharmacy sector embraces digital transformation, harnessing data has become key to understanding the stakes involved and how to drive performance. Digitalization has spurred the development of new solutions, generating a wealth of information and saving valuable time on time-consuming tasks.
Pharmacies can now leverage this data to position their products more effectively, optimize promotions and strengthen customer loyalty. This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes into play.
Market players continuously strive to improve their merchandise planning, add POS items, negotiate with pharmacies to position their OTC products more effectively and create appealing promotions. All these efforts are geared to driving product performance. Falling squarely within the sales and marketing remit, every year each brand allocates a merchandising budget. This covers all the commercial techniques deployed to determine the optimal location and layout for each retail outlet.
A little theory never hurts:
In his book “Modern Supermarket Operations” published in 1963, Charles Kepner set out the pillars of effective merchandising with the “6R” rule:
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The “right product”: assortment optimization
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The “right time”: seasonality management
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The “right information”: in-store communication
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The “right place”: outlet layout and signage
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The “right amount”: optimization of product purchase lead times
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The “right customer”: personalization to boost profitability
Despite all these measures, brands must still check that their investment and displays are well executed and respected at each retail outlet. As pharmacy merchandising and POS can strengthen brand image, drive sales and build customer loyalty, sales teams have to examine all these factors in each pharmacy.
II. Integrating AI for connected, health-focused pharmacies
Digital transformation is not just limited to internal pharmacy management, but also impacts patients’ health. AI offers new opportunities for revolutionizing pharmacies and enhancing patients’ experience.
Here are some key areas where AI can transform pharmacies and foster a health-focused approach:
1. Optimizing medication distribution
Medicine distribution and inventory management are major challenges for pharmacies. AI can optimize these processes by forecasting demand, identifying purchasing patterns and improving logistics. This helps prevent stock-outs, ensures constant availability of medicines and optimizes delivery lead-time management.
2. Virtual assistance and pharmaceutical advice
AI offers a host of avenues for revolutionizing pharmacies and improving patient’s experience. AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants can provide patients with personalized pharmaceutical advice. Personalizing care also allows pharmacies to analyse patient data and make recommendations tailored to each individual, thereby optimizing treatment, improving treatment efficacy and preventing overmedication.
They can also answer questions about medication, dosages, side effects and drug interactions. This provides patients with ready access to reliable information and encourages autonomy in managing their health. In addition, AI helps prevent and manage chronic illness by detecting potential risk factors, providing preventive advice and facilitating patient follow-up.
The digital transformation of pharmacies and healthcare is fostering a connected pharmaceutical ecosystem centred on health and effective patient outcomes. To stay competitive and help improve patient pathways, pharmacies must seize these opportunities and adapt to this new age of digital healthcare.
With AI, you can transform your business and have a positive impact on your patients’ health.
III. The public health benefits of pharmacy digital transformation
Pharmacy digital transformation is not just about improving the performance of individual pharmacies. It also significantly impacts public health. By embracing digital technology and AI, pharmacies can help encourage better healthcare practices.
Monitoring health
By harnessing patients’ health data, pharmacies can play an active role in monitoring public health. Real-time data analysis using AI can detect emerging trends, potential epidemics and health indicators. This enables a rapid, targeted response aimed at preventing the spread of disease and implementing effective preventive measures. For example, analysing tweets can help spot references to specific symptoms indicating a potential pandemic.
Cross-disciplinary collaboration
Digital transformation enables collaboration among healthcare players — doctors, pharmacists, nurses and public health professionals. Digital platforms allow medical information to be shared quickly and securely, making it easier to coordinate care, manage medication and enable joint decision-making for patient wellbeing.
The digital transformation of pharmacies offers a major opportunity for revolutionizing the pharmaceutical sector and improving its impact on public health. In this new age of digital healthc are, pharmacies can contribute to more positive outcomes for both patients and society as a whole.
Digitalizing pharmacies and integrating AI brings many advantages for pharmacies and patients. Pharmacies can improve operational efficiency by automating administrative tasks, allowing them to focus more on offering personalized patient care. By analysing health data, pharmacies can make informed, proactive decisions to optimize treatment and prevent complications.
In addition, data platforms (big data) allow researchers, medical experts and healthcare organizations to share information quickly and collaborate globally. This encourages healthcare professionals to disseminate scientific research, and share experiences and best practices, ultimately leading to a better understanding of terminal illness and the development of effective health strategies.
The EasyPicky solution enables shelf and assortment inventories to be performed quickly and efficiently using smartphones or tablets. Thanks to AI, EasyPicky can record all products at each retail outlet point of sales on video without requiring an internet connection. Our solution tracks all products, store sales plans, prices, retail outlets and stock-outs.
The app calculates KPIs in seconds: ND, share of shelf, number of facings, POS and promotion compliance, brand blocking and brand placement location, store furniture and testers, and reveals any gaps between retail outlet point of sales performance and brand decision-makers’ targets.
The EasyPicky app works like a human eye: if a salesperson is carrying out a product inventory, and a customer walks in front of the phone or tablet at exactly that moment, the app just continues the inventory — there’s no need to retake the video. The EasyPicky solution adapts to any environment, even the most restrictive. For example, EasyPicky easily recognizes products behind plexiglass.
The main difference between the EasyPicky app and photo-based image-recognition software solution is that just a single video of all products is needed to calculate all KPIs and complete a full audit of each retail outlet point of sales. There’s no need to take numerous photos of each shelf, upload them and then wait for the results. What’s more, the EasyPicky solution can be integrated as a CRM software plug-in so all field data can be shared immediately.
EasyPicky AI is ushering in a new age in retail outlet point of sales tracking — boost the efficiency of your field visits starting from today!
In a nutshell, embracing AI as part of the digital transformation of pharmacies opens up new avenues for revolutionizing the pharmaceuticals business and making a positive impact on health. By harnessing the advantages of digitalization, pharmacies can offer personalized care, optimized medicine management, informed decision-making and an enhanced patient experience. In this age of digital health, pharmacies must seize these opportunities to stay in the race and help improve health outcomes for society as a whole.
