E15 - Navigating E-Commerce Spaces: How Pharmacies can Stay Ahead in an Increasingly Online World

On this episode of the Pharmacy View podcast, Scott talks with Tim Shelton, a community retail Pharmacist with 25 years of experience in the field. Tim is currently working in e-commerce heading up the agency machete.systems, which takes Australian and New Zealand brands and helps them transition into being represented on Amazon. Scott and Tim tackle the question of whether or not the forced move to e-commerce platforms for pharmacy companies in recent months has been good for them, and discuss both positive and negative ways that different businesses have handled the transition. Tim shares key insights from his experience working with e-commerce platforms to discuss best practices that Pharmacies can adopt to be successful in these spaces. He discusses the customer/seller feedback section on Amazon and how this review platform has made it clear that there are a lot of improvements needed in order to increase customer satisfaction with working with Pharmacies via e-commerce sites. He touches on the importance of Pharmacies garnering a positive social media presence and online reputation, as reviews online can make or break an e-commerce business overnight. Scott and Tim discuss the importance of brand building for Pharmacies and how to use social media as a tool to do this. Tim touches on the value of consistency in representation online in order to keep the brand identity uniform across all platforms. By making people feel connected to the brand and like part of “the tribe” instead of just a number, a Pharmacy can increase the customer’s satisfaction a well as loyalty. They wrap up by touching on the importance of CRM systems and how Pharmacies should be using these systems to capture data and connect more easily with customers. Social Media Clips: • The value of e-commerce customers (4:10-4:27) • Why and how to use case studies to pitch for new business (7:34-8:41) • The importance of focusing efforts on online platforms (15:07-15:27) • Building your brand using social media tools (16:17 -16:42) • The importance of using a CRM to connect with customers (23:54-24:33) Connect with Scott LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottcarpenter-evbc https://shopfrontsolutions.com.au/ https://aerion.com.au/ Connect with Tim: ● https://www.linkedin.com/in/timatmachetetesystems/ ● https://www.machetesystems.com.au/articles