Most valued by pharmacies: Ratiopharm and Bionorica
- Overall, the image of OTC manufacturers among pharmacies still leaves a lot to be desired, according to the new Bonsai OTC Pharmacy Sales Study.
- OTC manufacturers should not save money in the wrong place - on staff. The human factor is even more important to pharmacies than it used to be.
- Still for the garbage can: half of the advertising materials that manufacturers supply to pharmacies still end up in the bin unused.
- Couponing campaigns are being used more by pharmacies than in the previous year. Manufacturer portals are a touchpoint with potential.
Ratiopharm and Bionorica are particularly valued by pharmacists
Bonsai Health has just received the TOCii Award for its pharmaceutical and healthcare research. MORE ABOUT
Hamburg / Bremen. 03.03.2025. "OTC and over-the-counter manufacturers still have an image problem with pharmacists," says Bettina Mertens-Danowski, Head of Bonsai Health, summing up the results of the new Bonsai OTC Pharmacy Sales Study. And: "There is no improvement in sight. Overall, the results have remained poor for the third year in a row - with only a few notable exceptions."
Pharmacists' favorites: Bionorica and Ratiopharm
Bettina Mertens-Danowski, Head of Bonsai Health
In addition to spontaneous popularity, Bonsai Health also determines the net promoter score (NPS) in the study, which refers to the pharmacists' willingness to recommend the product. The NPS puts fans, passives and critics of a manufacturer in relation to each other and can lie between +100 and -100.
In the new Bonsai OTC Pharmacy Sales Study, only two OTC and over-the-counter manufacturers achieved a positive Net Promoter Score: Bionorica and Ratiopharm. In contrast, more than half of the manufacturers are clearly in the negative range between -25 and -71.
For the new Bonsai OTC Pharmacy Sales Study, individual evaluation categories such as company image, sales force performance, training formats and popularity of POS advertising materials were determined for more than 20 manufacturers in the Bonsai Pharmacy Panel. This provides each manufacturer with the starting points with which they can most effectively improve their cooperation with pharmacies.
In general: "If the economic foundation of the manufacturer-pharmacy relationship is right, then competent contacts and sensitivity to pharmacists' concerns make all the difference. OTC manufacturers should never cut corners in this area," says Bettina Mertens-Danowski. The importance of competent contact persons at the manufacturer has increased by eight percentage points to 81 percent compared to the previous year.
Sustainability at the pharmacy PoS
Take advertising materials, for example: the overall acceptance of advertising materials provided by manufacturers to pharmacies still leaves a lot to be desired. 50 percent of materials intended for the PoS are disposed of directly. "Of the advertising materials that are sent to pharmacies unsolicited, as much as three quarters end up directly in the garbage can," says Bettina Mertens-Danowski: "This is bad for manufacturers and for the environment, but apparently nobody has really cared over the last two years. There is no other way to interpret this repeatedly disastrous result."
Couponing is becoming more popular with pharmacists
82 percent of pharmacies took part in manufacturers' couponing campaigns last year - most of them often or very often. And this despite the fact that 56 percent have rather mixed feelings about coupons or even rate them negatively. But: "Those who use couponing quickly become convinced and take part in such campaigns more and more frequently," emphasizes Bettina Mertens-Danowski.
Manufacturer portals are a touchpoint with potential
Pharmacies have been using fax machines for longer than other sectors. This is increasingly changing. What used to be ordered, returned or complained about by fax is now done digitally: 85 percent of pharmacies now use one or more online portals of OTC manufacturers. However, there is still room for improvement: even the two most frequently used manufacturer portals are only used by 28 percent of pharmacies each.
About the Bonsai OTC pharmacy sales study
A total of 259 pharmacists in owner or management positions took part in the Bonsai OTC Pharmacy Sales Study survey in November 2024. The sample is representative of dispensing pharmacies in Germany in terms of location and size. Individual evaluation categories such as company image, sales force performance, training formats and popularity of POS advertising materials as well as the Net Promotor Score (NPS) were surveyed for 20 relevant manufacturers via the Bonsai Pharmacy Panel.
Contact:
Bettina Mertens-Danowski, Head of Bonsai Health