Managing categories in the pharmacies will take five years to mature

São Paulo-despite the recent investment of large networks of pharmacies and associative groups in the management categories, stimulated by increased competition, the industry is still taking his first steps in the development of the strategy. To become naturalized in the operation, as something already occurs in food retail, must take at least five years.
The evaluation of a consultant specialized in the sector, Silvia bone. "In the last three years everyone has started talking that makes management categories, but is conversation. What the major networks do today is what I call the '' storage '' category, "he says.
The expert, who for 25 years worked on Drogasil, adds also that even the organisation of many networks products fall short. "Sometimes you go into the store and see that not even all the categories are grouped; and when you analyze the shelf you notice that the product above is not what sells or what has the highest margin ", exemplifies.
The Director of the consultancy Mind Shopper, Alessandra Lima, claims that in fact the development of the management category in pharmacies does not have the same maturity that you see in food retail. She points out, however, that in the last four years the interest in the business in the implementation of the strategy has grown considerably. "The major networks are structuring management areas for categories and have begun to demand more and more this process of industries," he points out.
She explains that the greatest interest came about, in part, by the consolidation of the sector, with recent movements of mergers and acquisitions. It did, in your vision, the competitive landscape to stay even more difficult. "That way, you can''t grow with expansion, and it is necessary to pursue other growth platforms. This concern arises to bring more increment to the store through the development of categories ". Silvia agrees and adds that this is a natural process and which is linked to increasing professionalization of the field.
The General Director of Farmarcas, administrator of associative networks comprising eight groups and more than 500 drugstores, Paulo Costa, said that was precisely the reason which led the company to begin working in the management of categories, about two years ago. "It''s a way to differentiate. As you apply at the store you realize that really improves performance. "
He says that in the shops of the network the focus currently is only in managing the MIPs (over-the-counter drugs), but that the intention is to expand the scope. On the performance, Costa claims that there was an increase of about 30% in turnover of category after the beginning of the work.
"The new stores that we open already have by default a area for the MIPs, with standardized nomenclature and securities. There''s a whole systematic that even the color space refers to the symptom of the disease. "
Difficulty
Regarding the work done by the Farmarcas and other drug stores related to the Brazilian Federation of Associative and independent Networks of Pharmacies (Febrarfar), Silvia says that is one of the most advanced cases, along with the streak Drogasil. "But if you are checking out at the point of sale if this arrangement is at the same level than that of a supermarket that really makes managing categories, you will see that is light years away," says the consultant.
One of the main obstacles to this, according to Silvia, is the retail relationship with the industry, which is still weak in the pharmaceutical industry. "Retailers always had food industry investment, what made the qualifier much faster. Pharmaceutical production always invested less, so all the drugstores would have had to leave directly from the result of them, "he explains.
She adds that this scenario that caused the food retail walk faster and the pharmacist to stay behind, in terms of management.