Healthwise Pharmacists began trading over 15 years ago, operating as a single independent pharmacy under the name Tieneys in Ireland. Since then the business has grown to include a modern warehouse facility and 16 independent stores who trade as a co-operative. The outlets distribute and sell over the counter and prescription drugs in the community. The company’s impressive growth over recent years has positioned the group as one of the leading community chemist outlets in Ireland.
“…We are regularly commended on our prices relative to the large supermarkets and sometimes they just can’t compete!”
The Healthwise brand was set up to enable individual pharmacies to compete with the high street chains and supermarkets whilst retaining their own identity and independence. The group brings co-ownership to young pharmacists and with this increased buying power, delivers fantastic value to customers
Healthwise Director Liam Grimley explains, “With our buying power and dedication to value we are regularly commended on our prices relative to the large supermarkets and sometimes they just can’t compete! We have a rural base and aim to supply a broad range of services catering for young mothers through to the elderly, which is essential locally.”
The Challenge
As the group expanded in terms of outlets, the pharmacists began spending more time dealing with lengthy admin duties and less time with customers. Duties like stocktaking, ordering, tracking, monitoring sales and reporting across 16 stores and a central warehouse with over 25,000+ product lines all take up valuable time and resources.
Healthwise Director Donal Cassidy comments, “It was our aim to take repetitive, time-consuming tasks and paperwork away from our pharmacists so they have time to deal with our customers on a personal level – this allows us to build valuable relationships with our customers which is why we are here in the first place.”
Another situation that needed to be addressed was the inability of the current Health retail software to run a multi-location business and to retain and share sales data across the group. The ability to share information across multi-site outlets and use the knowledge is essential for any business looking to grow.
The Solution
Following some initial research, the directors of Healthwise were introduced to Opus Retail Manager. The software is ideal for businesses with single/multiple outlets looking to have a centralised retail information management system to track sales, stock and orders across the group.
“Most software solutions out there are geared towards use in one large company. Healthwise have to cross invoice and track everything including stock, orders and sales across the group, we needed more than just a dispatch system. We wanted a system that allowed our pharmacists to communicate better and share information on sales and seasonal trends”, said Donal.
Opus Retail Manager is also used to run the Warehouse and links to Sage for Accounting and because each store runs independently as apposed to a traditional branch, as stock is shipped from the warehouse to each Pharmacy, it also automatically creates an invoice in Sage Accounting Software. The warehouse and shops also utilise Mobile Handheld PC’s for Stock Takes, Inter branch Transfers, Goods in, etc. all working wirelessly in real time.
Opus Retail Manager is a powerful tool for retail managers. It’s easy to use and allows instant access to the information managers need to make informed, timely decisions. For example, the software can produce weekly, daily or hourly reports to highlight product lines that are selling well. Management could then use this information and decide to put them in a more prominent place to increase visibility and therefore increase sales. Senior Management can access business critical information via the cloud so they require no IT knowledge or System Training to get business critical information.
Opus Retail Manager is packed full of useful retail management tools and features. It can also be customised to undertake specific tasks for each end user. Lengthy in-house administration duties such as stocktaking, ordering, tracking payments and reporting can all be automated. The time saved by automating these tasks can be used to concentrate on what should be your main business focus – increasing profits!
How can you increase profits in your retail business?
Simple. By introducing your business to one of the most advanced, cost effective and easy to use Epos retail management solutions on the market – Opus Retail Manager.
Opus Retail Manager gives your retail business the tools to reduce administration costs and increase efficiency, so your staff can use their time more effectively and management has the information needed to make more informed, timely decisions.
Healthwise Directors Donal and Liam reflect on the project, “With our increased efficiencies, better prices, improved service levels and continued support from our appreciated software providers Opus Retail Solutions, we can continue to expand our business model with confidence whilst retaining local independence.”
