Peter Lane, Head of Brand Development explains why Sigma Healthcare offers such a wide range of pharmacy brands.

Unlike other pharmacy groups, Sigma Healthcare has built up a stable of diverse pharmacy brands. They include long-standing Australian names, a variety of discount chains, trusted regional and niche brands – like the nationally expanding WholeLife, our newest brand concept which adds health food, organic products and community events to the traditional pharmacy model.

Owning a wide range of pharmacy brands across the varied Australian marketplace gives us access to a significant amount of comparable industry data – based on population, demographics, format and location. Based on this data and the fact we own a range of brands, we’re able to take an agnostic approach. Whether you are looking to change the brand of an existing pharmacy or are planning to buy or open one in a new location, we’ve got the facts to help our customers make the right choice for each trading environment.

Nothing left to chance

Moving to a new pharmacy brand can be a costly exercise, and it’s not something you would want to do too often – so it’s very important you get it right. When you come to us for help with selecting the right brand for your pharmacy, there’s a specific and time-tested process we conduct with you.

First up, we perform a deep analysis of market situation and opportunity. We dive into the data of your pharmacy – revenues, gross profit, overheads, variable costs and so on – as well as the industry data we hold about demographics in particular locations and pharmacy styles. If you have not yet purchased a pharmacy, we can assist you in selecting a location – and we also have knowledge of pharmacy owners considering the sale of their businesses.

The second stage is marrying up all this information with the brand that will give you the greatest competitive advantage. The third is developing a commercial offering tailored to your needs and taking affordability into consideration.

Sometimes during this process, we identify no real value in changing from a current brand. In that case we’re frank with you. The solution to problems with an existing business – whether you own or are looking to buy it – may not lie in its branding at all. We might recommend you undertake our complimentary Finance Health Check. Designed and conducted by Sigma Financial Services, it can help you understand the metrics of your business across a range of dimensions – giving you the information you need to effect positive change. (Read my colleague Paul O’Sullivan’s very useful article about the five fundamentals that can go wrong in a pharmacy business.)

Our brand guarantee

As you can tell, we thoroughly analyse your trading and competitive landscape and take a lot of care to match your business and personal aspirations with the ideal pharmacy brand. We know it is very important that you have the right fit for your business and personal brand connection.

However, if there is a significant or unforeseen change to your trading conditions, we provide a guarantee that you can change to one of our other brands or to an independent program. Obviously, there are terms and conditions attached to this guarantee, but we will enable you to transfer your contract, and help you with some of the costs such as changing signage.

An industry first, our brand guarantee gives you the peace of mind to make a significant business decision – and is based on our belief that ‘we succeed if you succeed’.

Like to know more?

In future articles, you can read about the distinct ‘personalities’ of each of our individual brands – including the style of owner and customer demographics they best suit. If you ever thought that the approximately 200 pharmacy brands in Australia were a ‘sea of sameness’, you’ll find out that they are very definitely not!

Meanwhile, for more information on each of the Sigma Healthcare brands, visit our website.