Alongside scientific breakthroughs and market innovations new approaches to customer engagement are changing the pharmaceutical sector.
Around the world national and private healthcare providers are under increased pressure to control their spending. Changes like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the USA will have far-reaching effects for contracts and pricing. European measures to cut drug exclusivity from 10 to eight years will affect long-term research and development decisions. Initiatives like these mean the sector is facing financial and operational uncertainties.
Internationally, aging populations are causing major concerns about public health in the medium term. Fewer tax paying working adults and increasing demand for care services mean good health in older age is a priority.
However, trust and confidence in healthcare is fractured, with over half of users saying the system doesn’t care for them. Around a quarter of patients don’t ask for medical care because it’s inconvenient or expensive. To rebuild trust companies in the pharmaceutical sector need to engage providers and patients more effectively.
Cloudfy helps manufacturers and distributors in the pharmaceutical sector improve customer experiences. Its pre-built B2B ecommerce features simplify and streamline processes to handle complex regulations, security, and supply chain challenges.
You can save time and money with automated order processing. Seamless integration with your enterprise (ERP) system gives you end-to-end visibility of your business. You can make data-based decisions and improve performance. As a software as a service (SaaS) solution you can also reduce your IT requirements. It’s easy to scale your operations during periods of peak demand and your site can grow with your business.
Empower everyone with user-friendly online catalogs, self-service tools and mobile apps. Keep track of serialized stock, enforce quantity and product combination limits, and manage restricted products.
The top four B2B ecommerce features for pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors
Powerful B2B ecommerce features allow you to increase sales, reduce costs and engage with customers more effectively. Your sales and account management teams can spend more time adding value and building relationships with customers. Here are just four tools that can make a major difference to your operations in the pharmaceutical sector.
Serialized stock management
As a highly regulated industry, many medicines, medical devices and pieces of equipment require licenses. Ecommerce-ERP integration allows you to restrict the products your registered customers can view and purchase with a customized catalog. Serialized inventory and order management allows you to use your preferred license generation software to create serialized license lists. You can identify products as ‘serialized’ in either your ERP system or your ecommerce administration dashboard. When your customers place their orders online they’re automatically tagged with the next available license numbers. This information is then recorded in your ERP for reliable traceability and control.
Field sales representative app
Your field salespeople regularly visit wholesalers, brokers, pharmacies, doctors’ offices and hospitals and attend events. They don’t need paper catalogs to showcase your products any more. A field sales representative app for mobile devices provides instant access to product data, inventory, customer-specific catalogs and accurate pricing. Even without an internet connection they can update previously downloaded details, provide quotes, place orders and take notes. All the information goes straight back to your ERP when they reconnect to your system. You’ll increase efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction.
Product safety data downloads
Accurate and reliable product and safety data is essential in the pharmaceutical sector. You can provide your customers with up-to-date information to view, download and print. Authorized users can securely access and download safety data sheets (SDS) and other critical product information from their easy to use dashboard. You can ensure compliance with regulations and create a safer working environment.
Subscription ordering
Your buyers often make regular repeat orders for the same products. A subscription ordering feature improves operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. It’s an ideal tool to make reordering easier and simplify order processing for your administration team. It also helps to minimise manual data entry so you reduce errors too. It’s easy to set up frequency, duration, and lead-times to automate the reordering process. If needed, customers can receive automatic notification when it’s time to approve their next authorization for shipment.
Case Study: NAO Global Health
Texas-based NAO Global Health specializes in medical, surgical, diagnostic and analytical laboratory products and safety supplies. The company aims to supply cost effective pricing and improved healthcare delivery supported by exceptional customer service.
B2B ecommerce features from Cloudfy for pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors
Cloudfy is a software as a service (SaaS) B2B ecommerce platform specially designed to meet the needs of complex pharmaceutical 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 pharmaceutical business, scale as you grow and save money with Cloudfy. Book a free demonstration today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can create branded sites for your key customers or buying groups. With an online multi-site feature you can quickly create new sites tailored to different niche markets. It’s fast and easy to enable and disable features and functionality to fit their requirements. An easy to use administration dashboard simplifies management of loyalty points, discounts and promotions.
Easy procurement and purchasing controls create efficient approval processes. Multi-level authorizations help your buyers complete their orders. PunchOut integration allows you to share customized catalogs inside your customers’ own procurement systems. Electronic data interchange (EDI) ensures fast and secure procurement processes. Easy reordering tools and favorites lists make day to day tasks much simpler.
Controlling access to products is critical so catalog customization is a key tool. Your registered customers can only see and purchase authorized products. You can control product combinations and quantities as required. It’s all managed as part of the customer registration and login process. Once registered, they can also access key product and safety information from their customer dashboard at any time. For licensed products you can also use dedicated license generation software or your ERP system to generate and attach license numbers to orders.
