Now when I go to the pharmacy to buy medicine, I often encounter such a situation: I just want to buy a cold medicine, but the salesperson always recommends other medicines enthusiastically. In this regard, netizens also have something to say:

@Yangxuejin: I felt like I was about to catch a cold, so I thought about going to the pharmacy to buy some cold medicine. When I went to a pharmacy, I said to use a medical insurance card, and the salesperson gave me a box of the most expensive one.

@mzyflzjc: In ancient times, the couplet hanging outside the pharmacy would say: I hope people in the world are free from disease, and it is better to put medicine on the shelf. Today, a banner has been hung outside the pharmacy, which reads: One pound of eggs will be given for every purchase of medicines over 38 yuan.

And I don’t know if you have noticed, it seems that there are more and more pharmacies around. Today Xiaojiu will take you to talk about some things about the pharmacy.

First, there are more pharmacies

in In the past, there were basically no one or two pharmacies on a street, but now, it feels like pharmacies are blooming everywhere on a street.

According to the data released by the State Drug Administration, as of the end of September 2021 (the third quarter of 2021), the number of pharmacies nationwide was 586,500, compared with the second There was another increase of 579,000 in the quarter, an increase of about 1.4%.

However, there are about 587,000 pharmacies in my country that serve less than 2,400 people on average, while in developed countries, the average number of people serving in stores can reach about 6,000. According to Zhongkang CMH data, the national pharmacy retail market sales scale will be 491.6 billion yuan in 2021, and the national pharmacy retail market sales scale will be 482 billion yuan in 2020, a year-on-year increase of only 2%.

So this actually implies a phenomenon: The number of stores is increasing, but the sales growth rate of the entire pharmacy industry is slowing down.

It is actually very common for multiple pharmacies to appear in one street, but many times we also find that the business of pharmacies does not seem to be good. However, since the business of pharmacies is not good, why are pharmacies still opening more and more?

Second, why are there more and more pharmacies? How do you make money?

May be related to the following reasons:

First of all, the chain rate of snack pharmacies across the country is on the rise. In order to expand, companies need to keep buying and opening.

Additionally, the number of new pharmacies is growing, but there is no mass exit of existing pharmacies strong>, although the survival of pharmacies is becoming increasingly difficult, the situation of survival of the fittest is not yet clear.

As the aging population intensifies, medication needswill continue to increase, and people Spending on health care will grow further.

And in terms of national policy,” A series of policies, such as “dual-channel” management and “personal account” reform of medical insurance, are all promoting the reallocation of medical resources, greatly improving the convenience for patients to purchase medicines, and promoting the prescription drugs flow to pharmacies.

However, the impact of the new crown in the general environment of the epidemic, the trend of mergers and acquisitions of chain companies, and new retail models. Drug stores may face even greater challenges.

How do retail pharmacies make money?

First, “sell medicine to ask the disease, ask the disease to sell medicine”, it is symptomatic but makes money.

In simple terms, the salesperson will recommend drugs that meet the consumer’s symptoms, but the price of symptomatic drugs is cheap or expensive, and the salesperson may recommend first Expensive or high-profit, and supplementary medicines that can be eaten or not eaten according to the disease.

Second, health care products are profitable

In addition to medicines, pharmacies also have health care products, because their profits are even higher than those of medicines. If a person just comes to buy rhinitis medicine, but the salesperson may persuade him that his immunity is poor, so as to match him with health care products. The patient may buy it without knowing it.

In addition, pharmacies will also hold various events, For example, “buy medicine at a low price”, “discount medicine area”, “reduction of full quota”, “store exclusive coupons”, etc., try their best to engage in promotions to attract customers.

It is reported that some pharmacies still implement a high-margin model. However, with the influence of drug price monitoring, market competition, centralized procurement policies and other factors, the gross profit of retail pharmacies may be lower and lower in the future.

Third, there are 3 unspoken rules for pharmacies to sell medicines

Sometimes headaches and headaches, thinking of going to a big hospital is too troublesome, so many people will choose Go to the pharmacy to buy medicine, but the pharmacy sells medicine, there may be several “unspoken” unspoken rules.

1. Place high-profit drugs in a conspicuous place Location

The most prominent location in a pharmacy is usually where expensive, high-margin drugs are placed, while cheap or low-margin drugs are usually placed In the corner of the store.

2. The price of traditional Chinese medicine is often higher than that of western medicine

For treatment Traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine for the same disease are often more expensive than Western medicine.

In fact, the country does not implement the so-called price standard for each medicine. Some small pharmaceutical companies It will “seize the opportunity” and make more profit.

3 .Deceiving consumers with the name of the drug

Many times, the patients who buy the drug do not know the knowledge of the drug, which is easily misled by the salesperson. For example, they will use their name to To induce and deceive consumers, a certain Chinese patent medicine Niuhuang Xiaoyan Tablet can clear heat and detoxify, reduce swelling and relieve pain, but the salesperson may sell it as an anti-inflammatory drug in Western medicine.

Then When you go to the pharmacy to buy medicine or health care products, how to distinguish the true from the false? You need to look for a few words.

First of allPill box The ones with “National Medicine Quanzi” written on them are regular medicines. Products, are health care products with the words “National Food Health” and “Health Food Health”. “Health Food Health” is the original approval number of the Ministry of Health in 2004 and before. In 2004, after the State established the former Food and Drug Administration, it was changed to “National Food”. “Healthy Words”.

However, if the medicine says “Wei Yao Jian” it may be a counterfeit medicine , since 2002, the production of “Wei Yao Jian Zi” has stopped, and since 2001, circulation and use have been banned.

Finally, “X Health Food Certificate” belongs to the food hygiene license of a certain province and belongs to the category of food, not health care Taste.

Nowadays pharmacies are blooming everywhere, which is indeed convenient for consumers to a certain extent Buy medicine, but there may be some problems. As consumers, we hope that the unhealthy phenomenon will be improved and that pharmacies will be truly convenient for the people. We also need to know more about medicine in order to be “prepared”.

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