During the pandemic, the pharma and investigational medicinal products (IMP) sectors had to evolve to survive. The pharma ecommerce market is still growing dramatically and is expected to reach almost US$ 290,825million by 2034.
Like many other industries increasing costs, supply chain disruption and materials shortages have all accelerated change. Businesses in the sector can’t afford to fall behind.
Harnessing the power of digitization for the pharmaceutical and IMP sectors includes embracing B2B ecommerce. It’s just one of the ways the dynamics in the sector are changing.
Cloudfy is a B2B ecommerce platform designed to meet the complex B2B sales processes in the pharmaceuticals and IMP sectors.
It easily handles the demands of complex regulations, security, and supply chain challenges. You can automate order processing, integrate seamlessly with your enterprise (ERP) system, and scale as your business grows.
You can streamline sales with user-friendly online catalogs, mobile apps, and a self-service portal. With Cloudfy’s comprehensive B2B ecommerce features you can effortlessly manage serialized stock, quantity limits and restricted products.
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Why the pharma and IMP sectors need B2B ecommerce
Digital channels are now preferred by B2B buyers who must research, compare and evaluate the market quickly and effectively. In many cases they prefer to complete their whole procurement journey online.
The most successful B2B companies now sell across multiple digital channels and use advanced sales technology and automation. No other options provide the same deep data analytics and personalization to optimize sales. For the pharma sector it’s also an opportunity to replace legacy business systems that no longer support modern sales processes.
The pharma supply chain includes producers, sellers, warehouses, logistics, distribution centers, and often retail channels. The steps between raw materials and end users include research and development (R&D), procurement, contract manufacturing, packaging, storage and distribution. End to end visibility of the whole process is the key to transforming efficiency, cost management and customer relations.
Challenges in the B2B pharma and IMP sectors
Digital maturity across the pharma supply chain varies dramatically. The whole value chain includes many international components which affect pricing and overall performance. There are significant challenges that modern technology can help address.
Meeting the requirements for a highly skilled workforce is also an increasing challenge. Quality compliance, limited shelf life and varying demand add to the complexity of production planning and onward distribution. Automation has potential to provide solutions.
In addition, research breakthroughs can have a major impact on key revenue streams. Business agility and advanced planning are therefore key considerations.
How B2B ecommerce is changing the pharma and IMP sectors
B2B ecommerce offers convenience and efficiency. Online self-service supports around the clock availability to meet the needs of global procurement. Automation streamlines and simplifies sales processes and advanced analytics improves purchasing and production planning.
Extending the benefits of digitization to all aspects of operations improves your organisation’s strategic approach. The benefits include:
- data sharing in near real time
- improved collaboration and efficiency
- better cost management
- fewer manual data entry errors and increased accuracy
- improved traceability and transparency
- compliance and safety data management
- clearer and more competitive pricing
- more effective procurement planning.
B2B marketplaces for the pharma and IMP sectors
Online marketplaces give access to everything from raw materials to finished products. Sellers and buyers can review and evaluate multiple solutions for their needs in one forum.
It’s possible to discover a wide range of products from active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to finished formulations. You can even find and compare organic raw materials on online marketplaces. Contract manufacturers can connect with larger pharma companies and medical device manufacturers can sell to distributors.
However, marketplaces that are operated by third parties might not provide access to all the customer data you would want. You might consider creating a B2B pharma marketplace to sell your own products alongside a range of complementary offers. This can provide a valuable additional revenue stream and help meet your customers’ needs.
Key B2B ecommerce features for the pharma and IMP sectors
Alternatively, creating a dedicated ecommerce platform for your pharma or IMP business allows you to build relationships directly with your customers. To do this effectively you’ll need to understand their needs and provide some key B2B ecommerce features.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration
You can simplify your processes and save time and money with ERP integration. When you no longer need to synchronize various databases and systems you’ll improve efficiency and avoid errors. You can share accurate pricing, inventory and delivery information in near real time and reduce order enquiries.
Request For Quote (RFQ)
Pricing is currently volatile so stating clear prices on your website is always a challenge. An in-built RFQ feature with fast and accurate results instead of fixed prices minimizes errors and improves customer journeys.
Flexible payments
With rules reliably applied from your ERP your registered customers can see their contracted prices when they login. They can track their accounts and maintain their credit from an easy to use dashboard. They can pay for their orders in installments to control their costs while you maintain your cashflow. By offering multiple payment options like credit or debit cards or digital wallets you can improve customer relationships. You can also automate processes to meet local tax and compliance requirements.
Electronic data interchange (EDI)
AS2 EDI integration with your B2B ecommerce portal allows secure data sharing for easy collaboration and faster processes. This remains a popular option for many businesses in the sector.
Document downloads
Up to date product specifications and compliance data are essential for your buyers. Your B2B ecommerce platform is the ideal place to store downloadable certification documents and product data sheets.
Multi-language and multi-currency ecommerce
Health is an international concern but local requirements can vary dramatically. To meet the needs of your international clients your platform must accommodate multiple currencies and languages.
Sales automation
Ecommerce automation tools reduce errors and improve efficiency. You can simplify repetitive tasks and manage orders, inventory, and pricing more effectively. You’ll also minimize manual data entry errors, helping to avoid damaging delays to your orders.
Product information management
Pharma products require extensive and detailed data. In-built product information management (PIM) tools or integration with your own PIM software simplifies the whole process.
Field sales support
Your sales reps have a busy time visiting pharmacies, doctors’ offices, and hospitals or attending trade events. A sales rep app empowers them with instant access to your product data, stock levels and customer-specific catalogs and pricing. They can place orders, even when they don’t have an internet connection, ready for uploading later.
Case study: A.E. Global
Florida based A.E. Global supplies packaging solutions to cannabis distributors who sell to retail stores and other outlets. Demand for custom-branded and child-resistant packaging is high. For companies like A.E.G. efficiency is a priority as they scale their business.
Day to day sales administration and order tracking was slowing down the company’s growth. Their new Cloudfy customer self-service portal allows them to use data in their NetSuite ERP to improve customer journeys. Around the clock invoicing and payments improve sales support. Customers can now easily track their orders online, reducing enquires.
Choosing a B2B ecommerce platform for your business
Cloudfy is a software as a service (SaaS) B2B ecommerce platform specially designed to meet the needs of complex pharma and IMP sales. Together we can implement a modern B2B ecommerce solution as part of the digital transformation of your business.
Find out how to simplify your business, scale as you grow and save money with Cloudfy. Book a free demonstration today.
Frequently Asked Questions
A B2B pharma marketplace allows multiple pharma and IMP businesses to buy and sell on a single site. Marketplaces might include raw material suppliers, manufacturers, contract manufacturing and packaging, distributors, and retailers. Many marketplaces are managed by a third-party which means you might not have all the detailed information you want about your customers and their needs.
Yes, in highly regulated and licensed industries, sales are often restricted to those with the necessary licenses. Some products are only sold under certain conditions. Restricted catalogs allow you to manage access via your customers’ login credentials. You can control purchases of products, combinations of products and order quantities, for example.
The quality and shelf life of pharma products are carefully controlled and monitored. You can track product specifications and batch IDs via individual or batch serial numbers. Serialized inventory and order management makes it easy to use your preferred license generation software. You can apply your serialized license numbers via your ERP or your ecommerce administrator’s dashboard.
With online self-service you can simplify and streamline procurement workflows to improve your sales. Thanks to automation your expert sales professionals can then spend more time on complex value-added customer support. Over time you’ll build long-term customer loyalty and increase lifetime value.
