Citizens save on health - a problem for pharmacies and OTC manufacturers

Local pharmacies are losing customers: more than a third of pharmacies (34%) are experiencing a decline in the number of customers. At the same time, OTC and over-the-counter manufacturers continue to have an image problem with pharmacies. These findings from recent Bonsai pharmacy studies - and the question of how OTC manufacturers should react to them - have generated a broad response in the trade press.

The Pharmazeutische Zeitung writes: "Results of an OTC sales study from 2023 by Bonsai Health confirm that citizens are saving on health" and quotes Bettina Mertens-Danowski, Head of Bonsai Health: "Local pharmacies are losing customers and sales." Pharma Relations reports: "The particularly bad news for pharmaceutical manufacturers: two thirds of pharmacists state that their customers are asking more frequently for cheaper product alternatives. "The advertising investments of more expensive branded products go up in smoke if more and more customers specifically ask for cheaper generics," emphasizes Bettina Mertens-Danowski." The brand article also deals with this aspect under the headline: "Pharmacy customers prefer cheaper alternatives".

"At the same time, the market research institute observed that OTC and over-the-counter manufacturers still have an image problem with pharmacies based on its new 'OTC sales study', which was also conducted in October 2023 with 280 pharmacists surveyed," writes Healthcare Marketing. In the Bonsai OTC sales study, " Bonsai Health determines a Net Promotor Score with regard to pharmacists' willingness to recommend a product," writes Health Reminder: "This NPS puts fans, passives and critics of a manufacturer in relation to each other and can range between +100 and -100. Across all 20 OTC and over-the-counter manufacturers surveyed, it lands clearly in the negative range at -25 in the latest 'Bonsai OTC sales study'."

"Of course, not all companies perform equally badly. There are also positive examples, but they are few and far between," the Pharmazeutische Zeitung quotes Bettina Mertens-Danowski. "Overall, however, manufacturers clearly lack an understanding of what pharmacies really need." One example: 52 percent of the advertising material that pharmaceutical companies provide to pharmacies ends up unused in the waste bin: "An enormous waste - both ecologically and economically," criticizes the expert.