2020 will be remembered not only as the year the coronavirus came to the world, but also because it changed the way we see and understand the world we knew.
“We had to move very quickly because with the quarantine and the ‘stay at home’ traffic began to decrease a lot, and at the same time we had to protect ourselves and everyone,” said Rafael Selvas, Deputy General Director of Savings Pharmacies .
In 2020 Farmacias del Ahorro registered sales of 40,000 million pesos (mp), 3,000 million pesos more than in 2019, according to figures from the Ranking of the 500 most powerful companies in Mexico by Expansión, which earned it to occupy position 115 of the ready.
Although COVID-19 affected almost all sectors of the economy, health and personal care and hygiene were not so affected. However, they had to face other challenges as a result of the change in consumer habits.
Unable to leave home, people in Mexico and the world turned to electronic commerce (e-commerce), and in a matter of months businesses had to activate their online sales channels, as well as home delivery mechanisms and points for consumers, if they preferred, to pick up their orders.
A point in favor of the pharmacy chain, Selvas pointed out, is that they have been offering home delivery for more than 30 years and, for 4 or 5 years, they have offered the service and the mobile application, which for a few months have had a new versions at the service of your customers.
“We had to hire more than 1,000 delivery guys, also about 500 people for the call centers. We had to buy a large fleet of motorcycles, uniforms and all the protective equipment they need – face masks, masks and alcohol gel – because another of the great challenges was, and has been until today, delivering the products to the homes of the clients with all the health precautions ”, explained the director of Farmacias del Ahorro without specifying the amount they invested to increase the capacity of attention and delivery.
Although they did not lay off, they had to send to shelter those collaborators who had a risk situation: diabetes, hypertensive or with some other comorbidity; in addition to reassigning the personnel who attended the physical stores to digital channels.
Attention
In addition to increasing muscle in terms of home deliveries and digital channel service – as did most of the businesses that survived the crisis – Farmacias del Ahorro offered a bonus to its customers.
Among those differentiators, Rafael Selvas explained, is home delivery at no additional cost, the possibility of scheduling deliveries, as well as offering coronavirus prevention products at the “lowest possible price”.
Additionally, free of charge, they offer medical consultations online, as well as beauty, skin, nutrition and health prevention consultancies.
In addition, in their branches they offer antigen testing, with what people know in 10 or 15 minutes, which makes people detect in a timely manner if they have the virus. These tests are from the Abbott laboratory and are endorsed by Cofepris and the United States FDA.
Supply
The stoppage of activities and the distancing measures caused another problem: the supply of raw materials and, in this case, of medicines. How did they solve it?
“We restock three or four months of regular inventory in advance to be prepared for any growth in demand; We did it for all chronic medications, with vitamins that had to do with the virus and with basic necessities: powdered milk, infant formulas, diapers, etc. ”, explained the manager.
“Fortunately we have six distribution centers in the country, that made us have a merchandise reserve for a long time and be able to restock our branches as we do on a daily basis. It was a very tough job, because we were all fighting in the market to have as much inventory as possible, “he added.
Thanks to the distribution centers, he stressed, “we were able to do something important” when products such as N95 protective face masks and alcohol gel were out of stock, to name a few examples.
An additional service has to do with an agreement with Banco Santander, through which the financial institution’s clients can make deposits and credit card payments at all Farmacias del Ahorro branches.
The hours for these operations are from 08:00 to 22:00 every day of the year with a commission of 10 pesos
The future
Just like the coronavirus, which showed the vulnerability we have, digital services are here to stay. Now the challenge for Farmacias del Ahorro in particular, and for the industry in general, has to do with offering additional services to those traditionally offered, Selvas said.
“Pharmacies have to evolve a little more to have a package of complementary services. We have a program called I love myself well , where we give free advice to people so that they can have prevention mechanisms, a healthier life with simple habits of the daily routine ”, anticipated the manager.
“We have to think it through and educate ourselves to be more careful,” he stressed.
“One of the great lessons we take away is that we have true heroes in pharmacies, the great appreciation that our colleagues in pharmacies, doctors, telephone operators, delivery men have for the brand; even in distribution centers. The level of dedication is admirable, staff turnover decreased, absenteeism. It is to be recognized and that is one of the great lessons we learned, the great value of our colleagues because they have been at the forefront of the business, in the line of service to our clients ”, Rafael Selvas concluded in gratitude to the team that gives life to Farmacias Savings.
