Market analysis by Sempera Consulting in cooperation with Insight Health and DatamedIQ shows that in the Corona crisis in March 2020, stationary pharmacies benefited more than mail-order pharmacies in terms of OTC preparations. Supply bottlenecks only slowed the boom. Otherwise, growth could have been even stronger. According to data analysts, the week from 10 to 17 March was the strongest in terms of sales. In terms of real sales prices, local pharmacies and mail-order pharmacies increased by 46 percent on average; the comparison period is 8 to 28 January 2020, with office-based pharmacies experiencing a real boom with a 51 percent increase in turnover, while mail-order pharmacies only recorded a 21 percent increase in turnover. In the last week of March, however, turnover collapsed again. At 12 percent, the turnover of both pharmacy divisions was even below the pre-Corona period. Analysts refer to this as a pull-forward effect, which is mainly caused by chronically ill patients because they buy drugs in order to stock up on them. This pre-corona effect mainly affects Rx preparations, which have increased by 52 percent in sales in the third week compared to the first week in March due to stockpiling. However, the boom month of March is mainly due to sales of antiseptics and disinfectants in the OTC sector. In this sector, there were sales increases by 250 percent. However, products to strengthen the immune system and vitamins (doubling sales), cough suppressants (cough medicine) and painkillers also performed well, while drugs for rheumatism and stomach medicine stagnated, as did preparations for face and body care. This was also noticed by mail order companies, which lost sales in the single-digit percentage range. The mail-order business also made a name for itself in March with lower discounts. However, their prices are currently still significantly lower than those of officinal products. According to the German Pharmacists‘ Association (DAV), the increase in Rx sales was higher in January and February, but still within the normal range, so that the COVID 19 effect will not take hold until March. However, expenditure is higher than the predicted 4.2 percent increase in prescription drugs, so that health insurance companies will probably spend 39 billion euros on drugs in 2020.
