Page 17 - index

? At the end of February this year,
Small pharmacies Clicks Group had 496 Clicks stores,
are now struggling of which 384 had pharmacies.
to make a living It represented an increase of 23
pharmacies over 12 months, and 60
new outlets over 36 months.
“We have a leading 19% share of the
retail pharmacy market by sales,” says
Vikesh Ramsunder, Chief Operating
Officer of the Clicks stores division. It type outlets, and Pick n Pay with 26 in-
is a market share edging up steadily,
?
Are old-style corner chemists
going the way of the dodo?
October 2016 – January 2017 strategicmarketing 15
having grown from 18,5% in 2015 and
16,5% in 2013.
Overall, says Ramsunder, corporate
pharmacies tied to the major retail and
supermarket chains now account for
about 46% of total sector sales. Other
corporate players include Shoprite with
145 in-store Medi-Rite pharmacies, Dis-
Chem with 100 big-format drug store-
store and three stand-alone pharmacies.
Spar Group has also joined in the
fray. But, in keeping with the Spar
model, pharmacies remain stand-alone
businesses in the hands of their owners.
“Clicks has been involved with
pharmacies for many years but it is
only in the last 18 months that Spar
has begun pushing hard,” observes
Greg Grant, head of Spar Group’s
pharmacy division. “We now have
61 member pharmacies and another
40 in the pipeline.”
It’s interesting to note that, despite
enjoying 46% of sector sales, corporate
pharmacies still accounted for only
about 22% of the 3 059 community
pharmacy outlets in South Africa at the
end of 2015 (excluding Spar-affiliated
pharmacies). These figures provide a
clear indication of the disproportionate
sales – and bargaining – power that
corporate pharmacies now enjoy,
versus small community pharmacies.
And the corporates remain on a
growth path, not least Clicks. “We
[still] see a significant opportunity >>