Discount Drug Stores will have a greater focus on digital than ever in 2015, aiming to capture a younger market through a new e-commerce site and soon to be launched loyalty program. Discount Drug Stores was acquired by Sigma Pharmaceuticals, the owner of Guardian and Amcal Pharmacies, in September for $26.7 million, but Discount Drug Stores GM, Doug Kuskopf-Dallas, maintains it will be business as usual despite being a subsidiary of Sigma. Discount Drug Stores has 132 stores nationally.
Five stores in NSW and Queensland, and one in Western Australia, will open in the first half of next year, with a total of around 15 stores outlined for 2015.
This year Discount Drug Stores opened around the same figure, and closed eight sites.
Next year will see the launch of Discount Drug Stores’ first loyalty app in tandem with an online store that Kuskopf-Dallas says will have a heavy focus on interactivity and personalisation, including customer profiles and customised product offers.
It will also integrate Discount Drug Stores’ medication management program online.
“For 2015, there will be also be a big focus on the digital space, more than we have before,” Kuskopf-Dallas told Inside Retail PREMIUM.
“We’ve never had a loyalty program before, so it’s really important for us to do that, especially in trying to target that 20 to 25 year old customer before they really have a need for pharmacy.
“Our current customer base in pharmacy is a slightly older demographic, but we need to be more immersed in current 20 year olds over the next five to 10 years, so that when they need the service of pharmacy, we’ll be well equipped to communicate with them in the way that they are used to communicating.”
This story first appeared in Inside Retail PREMIUM issue 2028. To subscribe, click here.
