These Statistics Prove Your Pharmacy’s Online Presence is Important

So much of independent pharmacy is about community. The customers who come in like clockwork for their prescriptions and a chat with the team. Those loyal customers are amazing. We all know word of mouth is a powerful tool for earning new customers.

We also know that competition is fierce and coming from more places than ever before. Which means it’s more important than ever before to make sure you’re doing everything you can to make sure that potential customers can find your pharmacy business and see what products you carry.

How people find your pharmacy online matters. Here’s some of the latest research from Google to give you an idea of just how important it is.

“90% of global shoppers recently surveyed said they used online search prior to going into a store.”*

90%! That’s a crazy big number. It’s also crazy scary to think about what happens if your pharmacy, or a product in your pharmacy doesn’t pop up when shoppers perform their search.

Of those shoppers who searched online before going to the store to shop,

“74% said they searched for something in-store related such as the closest store near them, locations, in stock near them, hours directions, wait times, and contact information.”*

So, not only is it important for people to know you’re there, it’s important to have accurate, robust information about your business and inventory. And, if that’s not enough…

“46% of shoppers surveyed confirm inventory online before going into a store.”*

“70% of shoppers surveyed say the ability shop in person/in a store is important when deciding which brand or retailer to buy from.”*

That’s great news for brick-and-mortar pharmacies worried about online competition and certainly means that an online presence is important even if customers can’t make online purchases.

Now what?

We know it’s important to have an online presence. One that shares robust product and store information. Seems easier said than done though. Except this might be the one time it is as easy as it sounds. (Maybe even easier.)

RMS is excited to announce an integration with Pointy from Google. Pointy helps customers find local retailers by displaying product and store information on the retailers Business Profile on Google. Pointy can also help products show up on a retailers Pointy Page, and Google Shopping.

With the RMS integration to Pointy, RMS customers can set up their free Pointy account and integration in just a few minutes. The RMS point-of-sale system automatically uploads product information including stock and pricing and regularly scheduled updates keep your information current. Plus, every time you scan an item during regular transaction processing, your RMS system and Pointy will be working behind the scenes to keep product up to date.

The benefits of using Pointy along with the ease of use of this integration for RMS customers has us asking “Why Not?”.  After all, 59% of shoppers surveyed say they use Google to research a purchase they plan to make in-store or online. And did we mention that there’s no cost to use the RMS integration and Pointy accounts are free?

You can learn more about Pointy from Google or contact RMS today to get started!

*Data courtesy of Think with Google. Data current as of 5/18/2021