The Digital Catch-Up in Pharmacies
The Digital Catch-Up in Pharmacies // Bonsai Pharmacy Digital Check 2026 // The percentage of pharmacies that consider themselves “digital”—beyond just e-prescriptions—is rising significantly // Customer apps are bringing pharmacies noticeable additional business // OTC and over-the-counter advertising has a visibility problem: Half of pharmacists can’t think of a successful campaign off the top of their heads.
· From the pharmacists’ perspective, particularly successful campaigns come from L’Oréal, Beiersdorf, and Haleon
Most valued by pharmacies: Ratiopharm and Bionorica
Never new Bonsai OTC pharmacy sales study shows: Overall, the image of OTC manufacturers among pharmacies still leaves a lot to be desired, the new Bonsai OTC Pharmacy Sales Study shows // OTC manufacturers should not cut back in the wrong place - on staff. The human factor is even more important to pharmacies than it used to be // Half of the promotional materials that manufacturers deliver to pharmacies still end up unused // Couponing campaigns are used more by pharmacies than in the previous year // Manufacturer portals are a touchpoint with potential.
Cold remedies are a pharmacist's favorite
Cold remedies are extremely popular with pharmacists. This is the result of the new Bonsai pharmacy study. "There is a clear correlation between the popularity of the OTC/free-choice categories and the margin that can be achieved with them," says Bettina Mertens-Danowski, Head of Bonsai Health. Popular is what brings in the margin: half of all pharmacists surveyed also see the favorite category of colds as one of the biggest revenue generators, according to the Bonsai OTC Category Spotlight.
Bonsai ApoVote: German citizens save on their health
New studies: Bonsai ApoVote and Bonsai OTC sales study: 91 percent of pharmacists say that their customers' purchasing behavior has changed in the face of inflation. A third of pharmacies have recorded a decline in the number of customers. In addition, fewer products per purchase are being sold over the counter. And: more than half of the advertising material that pharmaceutical manufacturers give to pharmacies ends up in the bin unused.
OTC: The importance of brand websites is overestimated
New findings from Bonsai on online shopping behavior for OTC products
The importance of OTC brand websites is overestimated. One third of online shoppers of OTC products choose another product on the way to the shopping cart. 90 percent of buyers of OTC products do not visit the brand website. Say-Do-Gap: 93 percent of OTC shoppers use Google before making a purchase. But only just under a quarter state this in surveys. Manufacturers can significantly improve their competitive position with optimized online strategies.
New Bonsai Health study: Three-quarters of pharmacies don't want to give up OTC sales force visits
Bonsai Health today published the latest results of the Bonsai OTC Pharmacy Field Service Rating 2023. According to this, field service visits are important or very important for almost three quarters of pharmacists (76 percent). The individual observations of the manufacturers show however serious differences - straight with very crucial criteria such as the recommendation frequency.