Pharmacist Eoghan Hanly has been a member of the CarePlus Pharmacy network since the early days of the company. Recently, he marked a major milestone for CarePlus and the retail pharmacy landscape, when Eoghan’s second outlet opened as a fully digital pharmacy in Loughrea, Co. Galway – the first of its kind in Ireland and Europe.
Customers who visit the fully digital pharmacy will find a fully re-imagined environment. There are no physical shelves, now replaced with ScreenVend’s digital screens, and the layout is bright, airy and open, allowing for a more spacious shop floor and a new, interactive customer experience, with plenty of room for social distancing.
The large ScreenVend digital screens invite customers to browse and shop for over the counter and front of store products as they would online, with easy-to-navigate virtual shelves, as online technology arrives in the physical world. Customers are able to browse the full range of over-the-counter medication, beauty and hygiene products, along with a large selection of vitamins and supplements on screen.
Each ScreenVend screen is connected to the Gollmann robotic dispensing system in store. Products are delivered via robot to the till point, enabling fully contactless transactions.
The owner of Loughrea CarePlus Pharmacy, Eoghan Hanly, is delighted with his fully digital pharmacy.
“This new digital pharmacy makes for a better overall experience in store, but also means that our team is able to do more to interact and help with customers. The new store has much more space, which allows for easier social distancing and helps us keep everyone safe. Our initial reaction from customers has been hugely positive, and the ease of use has been the one thing that customers keep referring to.”
Niamh Lynch, commercial director with CarePlus Pharmacy says, ““CarePlus Pharmacy is one of the first in the world to fully embrace a digital mode. The ScreenVend solution means removing shelves and replacing them with virtual dispensing. This allows for a wider range to be carried and replicates the experience that consumers have become accustomed to while shopping online. That experience is combined with the benefit of having staff nearby to assist, and allowing pharmacists to spend more time at the front of the store. We look forward to introducing this new type of experience to more customers in the future.”
This fully digital pharmacy experience offers all the services a ‘traditional’ pharmacy would, the only difference is how you interact. CarePlus are proud to have the first fully digital pharmacy across Ireland and Europe.
CarePlus Pharmacy says the new ScreenVend digital pharmacy model – already in place in Dunboyne, Co. Meath albeit with some physical shelves remaining – will be introduced across their network, as they continue to convert older CarePlus stores to the new fully digital model, while new stores coming into the network will automatically be digital-first.
