Many new entrepreneurs who dream about making their business successful start from a single business idea. Running an online drugstore may seem a great business startup plan for a beginner. But is it really worth the trouble? Let’s figure out that pros and pitfalls are waiting for every self-employed beginner who dreams about helping people by means of online drugstore services in Canada.
The sale of goods gradually replaces the usual business niche and makes this business very popular. Indeed, on the Internet there are many different online stores. Therefore, a person with the help of online sales will be able to purchase absolutely any product.
Almost all online drugstore services sell various things, shoes and other goods. But among the large number of drugstores in Canada there are many online pharmacies. It is worth noting that the sale of drugs through the Internet is relatively small in popularity.
Common prejudices about online pharmacy services
Embrace yourself to the fact that you will have to tell a lot about the pros of using the online pharmacy services in Canada. The first prejudice is very understandable, people believe that online pharmacies sell poor-quality medical products. Secondly, some believe that medicines are stored in inappropriate storage units. There are other reasons that make this business unpopular. Make sure to check all pros and cons before investing your time, money and effort to this kind of business.
What documents are required for opening a pharmaceutical business online?
In order to legally open an online pharmacy in Canada, it is necessary to get a special license. First of all, you need to register as a business entity. After it is worth finding a pharmacist with a good education and experience. Make sure to check the certificates and licenses required in your province of Canada – the rules and regulations differ.
The requirements for a warehouse of an online pharmacy in Canada
Another important factor – you can open an online pharmacy only if there is a suitable storage room. It means that a room for storage of drugs must be bought or rented. The correct storage room for storage of drugs should have an area of over 10 square meters.
In addition, other requirements may be imposed on the warehouse for storage of medications properly.
- A warehouse or storage unit must be finished with high-quality materials to protect the medications from humidity and sunshine;
- A well-functioning ventilation system;
- It is good to install the devices to monitor air quality;
- The picked warehouse must comply with the relevant sanitary standards of Canada.
If all the above conditions are met, the quality of storage of drugs will be top notch.
With the store brand My Canadian Pharmacy set as a perfect example – the company is known to have one of the industry’s best warehouses, and they have been a success for near two decades – you can see that the investment is well worth its salt.
Building a website for online pharmacy
To open an online pharmacy from scratch, you need to contact the experts in site building. The services of these professionals are not cheap but definitely worth every dollar spent. Make sure that the hired people will do all their work perfectly. And the entrepreneur will have to deal with other issues. Experienced programmers, in turn, will lead the entire technical part of this project. In the future, the support of SEO professionals will be required. These people will promote an online pharmacy to the first positions of popular search engine systems like Google and Yahoo. It is worth noting that the help of these people is extremely important. Indeed, in another case, the online pharmacy may remain unnoticed by potential customers.
A beginning entrepreneur is obliged to draw up a plan according to which the specialists of the website creation will work. Buyers should feel comfortable on the site. Therefore, a reliable image and high-quality annotation should be attached to each drug name. On a site each drug should have a separate page with a noticeable button like “Add to the cart”.
A website of every good online pharmacy must include the page where people can leave their messages and reviews. The feedback system in such enterprises has already proved its effectiveness: online consultations are now very popular. An experienced pharmacist can recommend a replacement for the required drug, help users navigate in the choice of medical devices and provide useful information for the use of this drug. The properly organized call center and online pop-up charts help increase profits by 30%.
In addition, it is worth making the description of all drugs clear and accessible. A purchase of medical goods should be provided not only through the form of the site, but also by phone. It is worth noting that professional telephone consultation increases sales of medicines. Therefore, a specialist consultant is obliged to thoroughly and reliably advise any caller.
Building the pricing policy for a website
The pricing of pharmaceuticals must be correct. In this case, it is necessary to consider the actual prices of medicines in the region where your target audience lives. There is no need to lower prices. After all, some buyers do not believe in high quality products sold cheap. And high prices, on the contrary, will scare away customers. Consult a financial advisor and compare your prices with the prices of competitors before placing an offer on the website.
Arranging a reliable shipping service
Make sure that shipping services on your website are available 24/7, without any holidays and days-off. This will be an advantage offered not by many drugstores in Canada. Medical supplies and medications may be required by people at any time. Moreover, the round-the-clock shipping can increase sales. You need to think about special bonuses for regular customers. After all, special bonuses can expand the range of online pharmacy clients.
Entrepreneurs who want to meet current trends before they open an online pharmacy should thoroughly study all organizational issues. Investments of impressive size and certain administrative efforts are an inevitable part of any business, and the payback and income guarantee in this matter will not be long in coming.
As you can see, like with any kind of business, the startup of an online Canadian pharmacy can be a profitable business with a solid financial plan and assistance of the professionals.