Pharmaceutical companies need to apply location intelligence techniques and foot traffic analytics to identify consumer mobility patterns, in order to maximize sales and generate more efficient expansion models.
The correlation between foot traffic, sales, and the success of pharmacy franchises have been studied and proven, so the development of this type of analysis has become a priority in the site selection process and expansion modeling.
Mobility analytics and location intelligence play an important role in business by helping to understand the behavioral patterns of consumers in any given zone of interest or point of sale.
Pedestrian flow analysis, location intelligence and point-of-interest categorization have revolutionized the way retail and wholesale industries implement expansion, commercial and operational strategies in the pharmaceutical sector.
BID Invest granted Calox de Costa Rica S.A. a loan that will help the company invest in substantial improvements in its production capacity and seek international certifications to validate the quality of its products.
The project has two main objectives. The first is to acquire the existing plant to make improvements in infrastructure and energy efficiency in order to become certified and expand its production capacity in the medium term.
In the last few weeks in Central American countries the volume of searches and conversations on the Internet associated with pharmacies began to decrease, a downward trend that continued until the first days of November.
Through a system that monitors in real time the changes in the interests and preferences of consumers in Central American countries, developed by CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project short and long term demand trends, for the different products, sectors and markets that operate in the region.
The Fischel Nunciatura drugstore, located near La Sabana Park in San Jose, Costa Rica, is a sales point that is a 15-minute walk away and has a potential market of over 23,000 consumers, 11% of whom are interested in health care issues.
Using the Geomarketing solutions we have developed for our clients, CentralAmericaData's Trade Intelligence team analyzed the environment of some of the main locations of the drugstores in Central America. Below is an extract of the study's findings.
Since Farmacias Sucre acquired most of the shares of Farmacias Santa Lucía in Costa Rica, sales of the latter have increased by 70%, mainly because of investments made in inventory.
In Costa Rica, 58% of the almost 500 points of sale operating under the chain scheme belong to three companies.
Figures from the College of Pharmacists of Costa Rica (Colfar) detail that 1,169 establishments dedicated to the sale of pharmaceutical products are reported throughout the country, of which 671 are independent businesses and 498 are points of sale of some chain of pharmacies.
The presence of new distributors, more pharmacy chains and growth in the imports of medicines and medical supplies reflect the sector's dynamism.
Recent mergers and acquisitions in the pharmacy market are just a sample of the dynamism achieved by the pharmaceutical business in the country. Growth is being seen not only in the number of points of sale of businesses dedicated to selling medicines and other supplies, but also in growth in imports and in the number of companies dedicated to the manufacture of medicines for human use and medical equipment, among other products.
Cuestamoras plans to open eight new La Bomba pharmacies in San Jose, Alajuela, Heredia, Liberia, Santa Cruz and Nicoya in September.
Seven months after announcing the acquisition of La Bomba pharmacy group, Cuestamoras is preparing to open eight new outlets, five of which will be reconversions of former Fischel pharmacies.
Reports show that between January and August this year the number of private drugstores in Costa Rica grew from 1,102 to 1,166, and the main participants say the market is still not saturated.
Figures from the College of Pharmacists indicate that between February 2 and August 7"... independent pharmacies grew from 751 to 771, while those belonging to chains increased from 387 to 395 points." The pharmacy business is still growing in the country, where recent acquisitions and changeswhich have taken placein recent monthspoint to this market still having growth potential.
It has been reported that Inversiones Farmacéuticas Santa Lucía has acquired the 18 points of sale belonging to the Chavarría pharmacy group.
The Commission to Promote Competition (Coprocom) confirmed to Elfinancierocr.com that the buyer is "... Inversiones Farmaceúticas Santa Lucía S.A. and as sellers two companies are registered, namely: Farmacias Chavarría S.A.
Organization that operates in Panama, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Phone: (507) 65456121
Girasol Pharma is a school of clinical pharmacist contracted for Santos de Rey Medical Group, where it participates in the activities of direct attention to the patient in the management of pharmacological therapy, geriatrics and anticoagulation clinics.
Pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, medical tourism companies, laboratories, pharmacies and research centers are part of the new Costa Rican health chamber.
The group of health sector companies announced that they"... intend to work with the state to assist in generating solutions to the challenges of the health system."
The owner of Farmacias Fischel has announced the acquisition of 100% of the pharmacy chain La Bomba, in a transaction whose amount was not disclosed.
Grupo Cuestamoras, owner of the Fischel drugstore chain bought the pharmacy chain La Bomba, in a transaction that is still subject to approval by the Commission for the Promotion of Competition.
Between 2008 and 2013 the income generated by sales in pharmacies established in the country grew by 61% reaching $405 million last year.
The four strongest and most competitive market chains have opened new points of service have expanded their investments and plan to give the same continuity in 2015, despite the fact that a slight reduction in the historical rate of growth in the sector is expected, of approximately 2%.