How to Prevent Stockouts in your Pharmacy or Patent Medicine Store
Brian’s shoulders sagged as he watched the ninth customer walk away. It was almost “close of business’’ and he had been unable to attend to about 50% of his customers because most of the medicines they wanted were out of stock. He began wondering how he had managed days like this in the past. Everywhere he looked, he was slammed by requests from customers.
Brian cleared his throat,
‘I’m sorry for the inconvenience. By this time tomorrow, we would have stocked up.’
Who stocks up in 24hours? A voice in his head jested. You need a miracle.
‘Yes, Remedial Rx is my miracle’ he countered, smiling at the app he had just downloaded.
This is an example of a stockout scenario.
What are Stockouts?
Stockouts occur when specific medicines are unavailable at the point of sale in your pharmacy or patent medicine store when a customer wants to buy. Customers are likely to look elsewhere for these medicines and that will cause losses. Stockouts can happen in community pharmacies and patent medicine stores, especially in peak periods or when certain diseases are endemic.
Effects of Stockouts
● Revenue Loss: This is the most evident effect of stockouts. When a customer places an order for a particular product in your pharmacy or patent medicine store and the product is out of stock, you will lose the profit attached to that sale. In the best-case scenario, the customer will opt for a similar product or, worse still, stop patronizing your pharmacy or patent medicine store.
● Customer dissatisfaction: Customer dissatisfaction can occur when stockouts are frequent in your pharmacy or patent medicine store. This leaves customers very disappointed and sad. Some may initially opt for a substitute product but should stockouts persist, they will patronize other pharmacies and patent medicine stores.
● Increased operational cost: You will have no choice but to purchase inventory on short notice if you urgently need an unavailable inventory. This usually entails paying a rush fee in exchange for expedited delivery which could minimize profit.
● Reputational harm: Customers that are dissatisfied as a result of these frequent stockouts could leave negative reviews on the internet, which can harm your pharmacy or patent medicine store’s reputation.
Factors Responsible for Stockouts
Below are factors that can lead to stockouts in your pharmacy or patent medicine store.
● Poor inventory management
Inventory management is critical to the success of a business because it ensures that there is never too much or insufficient stock. This helps to limit stockouts. A poor inventory management system will increase stockouts due to discrepancies between item counts and the record of how many units of a particular item is in stock.
● Increase in demand for specific pharmaceuticals
Demand for pharmaceutical products has seen an increase due to economic growth and even events like the Covid-19 pandemic. When demand supersedes supply, it will lead to stockouts.
● Supply chain disruptions
While inventory management issues are within your pharmacy or patent medicine store’s control, logistical issues aren’t. A disruption in the supply chain can arise due to several factors like; natural disasters, high cost of production materials, transportation delays, etc. The global supply chain has significantly been disrupted in recent times due to lockdowns and strict Covid-19 measures. This has led to an increase and shortage of pharmaceuticals such as generic drugs.
● Inadequate capital to purchase inventory
When you do not have enough capital to purchase inventory to fill new orders it will result in losses and jeopardize your pharmacy or patent medicine store’s reputation. Customers would be dissatisfied and patronize other pharmacies and patent medicine stores.
● Inefficient stock replenishment
Stock replenishment entails ensuring you have enough stock to sell at the right time. Poor stock replenishment practice is the number cause of stockouts with supply shortages accounting for about 10 to 30 percent.
How to avoid Stockouts in your Pharmacy or Patent Medicine Store
Stockouts are a retailer’s worst nightmare and if not handled properly could lead to anxiety. Are you battling frequent stockouts in your pharmacy or patent medicine store?
Learn how to combat it with the right tool.
Remedial Rx: the right tool
Remedial Rx is an app built for pharmacists and patent medicine vendors to help manage pharmacy or patent medicine store operations. With Remedial Rx you can avoid poor inventory, inefficient stock replenishment, and supply disruptions.
Here are key features that Remedial Rx possesses to help combat factors responsible for stockouts;
● Secured Patient Medication (PMR) System
With this system, you can access records and share real patient data and medication records all in one place. Records are important because they help you make decisions based on facts. With the PMR system of Remedial Rx, you can decipher disease patterns in your location and know the medications, and stock them more. This feature helps you meet up with demand and avoid stockouts.
● Auto stock replenishment
You can automatically replenish stocks once it reaches your set benchmark and also manages soon-to-expire products. This feature solves the problem of tracking expiration dates for all your stock. This will help you avoid stockouts through sales tracking to know peak sales periods. By tracking sales and noting your peak times, you will be armed with data that will help you stock up in advance.
● Procure Medicines at discounted rates
You can procure medicines at discounted rates and sell them at competitive or at market prices. Bypassing multiple middlemen and ridiculous delivery and transportation costs with Remedial Rx, you get the best direct-from-manufacturer rates and make the most profit margins.
● Simplified patient communication
You can boost customer loyalty and drive sales through the Remedial Rx chat feature; this is integrated with SMS services for order notifications or campaigns. Patients can order medicines via chat easily and reconcile on arrival. Happy customers, happy business!
● Pay only what you dispense
You can now prevent losses from expired, damaged goods and avoid stockouts by exploring Remedial Rx’s pay-only what you dispense option. With this feature, you will never waste money on expired goods. Download Remedial Rx to get started.
● Reduce lead time
Remedial Rx is the only way Brian will be able to make his wishes come true. When you order from Remedial Rx you reduce lead time to a day or less. When a customer orders a unique product, the rate at which you get it to them can turn a prospective client into a loyal client. In this instance, this gives you an edge over your competitors.
Closing thoughts
Dealing with stockouts in pharmacies or patent medicine stores and its effects can be very daunting. But with Remedial Rx you can streamline day-to-day operations, manage inventory and make procurement easier, and avoid stockouts. To learn more about how Remedial Health is partnering with neighbourhood pharmacies to improve the health of Africa, click here.
