Bonsai ApoVote: German citizens save on their health
New study on purchasing behavior in pharmacies:
- 91 percent of pharmacists say that their customers' purchasing behavior has changed in the face of inflation.
- A third of pharmacies are experiencing a decline in customer numbers. In addition, fewer products are being sold per purchase.
- More than half of the advertising materials that pharmaceutical manufacturers give to pharmacies end up unused.
Hamburg/Bremen, March 12, 2024. Bonsai Health today publishes the latest figures from Bonsai ApoVote, a representative survey of pharmacists in Germany. In addition, partial results of the OTC sales study, a Bonsai in-house study conducted for the second time in 2023, are published.
Inflation hits pharmacies - and their customers - hard
Bonsai ApoVote results
Nine out of ten pharmacists (91 percent) say that their customers have changed their purchasing behavior in the face of inflation. In the previous year, only 79 percent noted this negative trend. Further results of the 2023 Bonsai OTC salesstudy confirm that people are cutting back on healthcare: "Local pharmacies are losing customers and sales," says Bettina Mertens-Danowski, Head of Bonsai Health. More than a third of pharmacies (34%) are seeing a decline in the number of customers. In the previous year, it was "only" around a fifth (21%). And more than half (56%) say that customers are also buying fewer products per visit to the pharmacy (previous year: 42%).
Bettina Mertens-Danowski, Head of Bonsai Health
Health not at any price
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.
Relationship between OTC manufacturers and pharmacies remains rather cool
At the same time, OTC and over-the-counter manufacturers continue to have an image problem with pharmacies, as the new Bonsai OTC sales study shows. Here, the Net Promotor Score (NPS) of Bonsai Health is determined via the willingness of pharmacists to recommend a product. The NPS compares fans, passives and critics of a manufacturer among pharmacists and can theoretically lie between +100 and -100. Across all 20 OTC and over-the-counter manufacturers included in the current Bonsai OTC sales study, it is still clearly in the negative range at -25.
Half of manufacturers' advertising materials end up in pharmacies' garbage bins
"Of course, not all companies perform equally badly. There are also positive examples, but they are few and far between. Overall, however, manufacturers clearly lack an understanding of what pharmacies really need," says Bettina Mertens-Danowski. One example: more than half (52%) of the advertising material that pharmaceutical companies provide to pharmacies ends up unused in the bin. "An enormous waste - both ecologically and economically," says Bettina Mertens-Danowski. However, advertising materials are only one starting point - Bonsai also takes a detailed look at the sales force performance, image, training formats and various marketing campaigns of the manufacturers: "Our OTC sales study shows which adjustments can be made most effectively for 20 OTC and over-the-counter manufacturers in order to improve the relationship with pharmacists."
Contact:
Bettina Mertens-Danowski,
Head of Bonsai Health
Bettina.Mertens-Danowski@bonsai-research.com
About Bonsai ApoVote
Bonsai ApoVote offers companies the opportunity to quickly and representatively collect opinions from pharmacists on current topics. The basis for this is the Bonsai pharmacy panel for online surveys. For the current survey on the influence of inflation on purchasing behavior, 280 pharmacists in owner or management positions were surveyed in October 2023 - representative of over-the-counter pharmacies in Germany.
About the Bonsai OTC sales study
The Bonsai OTC Sales Study 2023 determines detailed evaluation categories such as company image, sales force performance, training formats and the popularity of POS advertising materials for 20 manufacturers from the OTC and over-the-counter sector. It thus provides manufacturers with starting points with which they can effectively improve their cooperation with pharmacies. The Net Promoter Score (NPS), which sums up the relationship from the pharmacies' point of view in a single value, was calculated for the 20 manufacturers. The OTC sales study took place for the second time in 2023 and thus also reflects the extent to which manufacturers have changed their performance in pharmacies over the past year. 280 pharmacists in owner or management positions took part in the survey in October 2023. The sample is representative of dispensing pharmacies in Germany in terms of location and size.
About Bonsai Health
Bonsai Health is the unit of Bonsai Research that bundles research, analysis and consulting for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. At Bonsai Health, sales data (directly from the pharmacies' merchandise management system) and survey data (from the Bonsai pharmacy panel) are combined with qualitative research on health brands and topics. www.bonsai-health.com