In Great Britain, the large pharmacy chains such as Lloyds-Pharmacy with 1,500 of its pharmacies and Boots (Walgreens Boots Alliance) with currently 2,000 pharmacies are facing enormous pressure and competition, not only from online pharmacies such as Pharmacy2U. According to the financial report, Lloyds Pharmacy had to swallow a fall in turnover of 8.5 per cent to 1.97 billion British pounds compared to the previous year. 200 pharmacies have already been closed for this reason, to initiate a „healthy shrinking“ measure. The reason for the bad situation of the company and the closures are also government savings measures on pharmacy fees. The NHS (National Health Service) in Great Britain and Northern Ireland is putting pressure on chain operators with government regulations on reimbursement and pharmacy financing. Walgreen’s Boots Alliance is not doing much better. They too will close down pharmacies that are making losses. There is also talk of 200 closures at Boots, 28 have already been closed. Financial reports of both companies for the past fiscal years provide statements about an „exceptionally challenging period“, said the British McKesson subsidiary LloydsPharmacy, which was bought by Celesio in 1997, in a statement. The smaller pharmacy chain Phoenix (Rowlands) is also experiencing difficulties and is attempting to compensate for cost-cutting measures and losses through courier services for which a fee is charged. Online pharmacies, such as the largest of them, Pharmacy2U, are putting additional pressure on the local pharmacy chains by increasing their market share with the help of aggressive marketing by mail order companies. Although online retailers are also reporting losses, they are experiencing extreme volume growth. 5.3 million NHS prescriptions were delivered between April 2018 and March 2019, an increase of 80 percent. Aggressive competition from online pharmacies is leading Lloyds Pharmacy and Boots to expand their business. Lloyds will expand its digital prescription delivery business in the future, the company says. The pharmacy chain will also position itself better. To this end, the „Echo“ app was already taken over in June 2019. McKesson UK is also talking about increasing its digital capabilities, which is a top priority.
Source: Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung