At the 2010 Pharmacy Show, about 6 small French health and beauty suppliers wishing to enter the UK market for the first time, took an area of stands together in order to attract interest either from distributors or from pharmacies directly. It is clearly quite difficult for an overseas supplier to enter the UK market and indeed there are not many general suppliers to pharmacy who are set up to promote new suppliers and new products to the Independent pharmacy sector in particular. In comparison to France there are not many contract sales companies with field sales representatives who are set up to promote a range of different suppliers and their products during visits to pharmacies.
An interesting development that I have heard about in France, for small suppliers to pharmacy, is for them to first pitch their products, upon favourable terms, to a informal voluntary nationwide group of innovative independent pharmacies. These pharmacies elect a representative board of members who meet monthly to decide on behalf of their membership what new products pitched to them by suppliers will be given a test market opportunity in the group. New products that are approved by the board member pharmacies, are then supplied usually on a sale or return basis, to all group members.
In effect these innovative pharmacies are offering, at low risk to themselves, a test marketing opportunity to new and existing suppliers. Whilst naturally not every new range or product launch will succeed, but these innovative pharmacies are building their own reputation with their customers as true innovators.
How different to the situation in the UK where many a new supplier will completely bypass independent pharmacies and offer their new products exclusively to a national chain. I believe that in the UK the larger membership groups for independents could benefit their members and their customers by experimenting with a similar method of testing out new products, which over time could only increase the likelihood of independent pharmacies gaining new products at the beginning of their life-cycle.