Discount is the new “thing” in pharmacy retail in Australia. Stores screaming discount on their shingle and across the front windows have replaced traditional pharmacies on every secod street, or so it seems.
The pharmacy of yesterday, offering personal service and local knowledge is fading and being replaced by these impersonal barns which use a claim around price as their only point of difference.
In some of these discount pharmacies, the price pitch stops at the door for inside many items are priced the same as you would find in a more traditional pharmacy.
I wonder if this is a trend we will see in the newsagency channel, a group built around a price proposition. It would be challenging to achieve because so much of what a newsagency traditionally sells has a slim margin and is, somewhat, price controlled.
It is interesting to consider whether someone will boldly play the price card because some of the challenges pharmacies face we face too. Much of what they sell is sole elsewhere. There are too many retail outlets. Suppliers are frustrated with lack of discipline The overall shingle will support only so much divergence from the traditional offer.
While I have no interest in a price based offer in the newsagency channel as this would distract from our core unique propositions of community connection and customer service, the question is interesting to contemplate.
Have I missed something? I thought that the old issue of a title was returned when the new issue came in, in most cases at least. We received the January issue of Australian Gold Digest yesterday. The December issue is not due to be returned until next month. Of course, we have sent it back early. Many newsagents would not. I have checked out the December issue of Australian Golf Digest. There is no reason I can see inside the magazine for it to have an extra month on the sehlves.
