A Sempora study was conducted to investigate the purchasing behavior of people in Germany who bought OTC products from their local pharmacy or by mail order in 2020. This refers to medicines or products that can be sold in pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription. The abbreviation OTC stands for „over the counter.“
For the study, data for stationary pharmacies were evaluated by Insight Health, while those for mail-order pharmacies came from DatamedIQ: According to the study, local pharmacies are generally losers in the Corona pandemic and mail-order pharmacies are the winners.
In general, all retailers together saw a slight decline in sales of three percent. Stationary pharmacies only gained 29 percent in March, when people in this country were hoarding purchases in a hurry. During this phase, mail-order companies also benefited with an increase of 23 percent. In the months that followed, the gap widened rapidly. Despite the gradual easing of restrictions, pharmacy sales declined, while mail-order sales increased strongly. The Christmas business clearly went to the mail-order business, which scored with a plus of 31 percent compared to the previous year. On-site pharmacies came up empty, losing 11 percent due to the decline as the second hard lockdown began.
The Sempora study also looked at which drugs and products were purchased the most and when. The progression of pandemic-related restrictions is quite crucial: at the beginning of the pandemic, precautionary measures came to the forefront, with the purchase of disinfectants. The level of purchase of these agents continued for a long time. This was followed by the purchase of hand and nail products due to dry hands caused by disinfectants. Vitamin A, D, and E preparations, as well as minerals, cough expectorants, flu remedies, and painkillers (analgesics), were also among the favorites during the pandemic.
Cold remedies were in the hoarding category at the beginning of the year. Sales declined in the following months through the end of the year as supplies were used up and infections were largely absent due to AHA + L rule compliance.
However, the conclusion of the study authors is definitely that Corona has changed the buying behavior and shopping habits of people in this country. Experts therefore recommend a concept adjustment or change in order to „break through potential old behavior patterns with fresh concepts“.
Source: Deutsche-Apotheker