Community Pharmacy Market in Portugal

: what role does the online channel play?

Abstract

This dissertation aims to study the impact of online in the Portuguese community pharmacy sector. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the demand for digital solutions, which required community pharmacies to adapt quickly to meet consumers’ needs and remain relevant in the market. However, most Portuguese pharmacies still do not have an online channel available. This is why is so important to explore whether there is in fact this need on the part of consumers. The research involved two questionnaires, one directed to consumers (n=170) and the other directed to pharmacists (n=63). In addition, 3 interviews were conducted with representatives of the Associação Nacional de Farmácias (ANF), Glint and Alliance Healthcare Portugal to collect qualitative data. The results reveal that both Portuguese consumers and pharmacists consider that the future of community pharmacies will consist of a hybrid system, combining the traditional physical store with the online channel. In addition, there is no association between what consumers and pharmacists consider to be the future of pharmacies and the location they live or the location of the pharmacy, respectively. The role of Portuguese community pharmacies will be to provide higher health services to the community.

Date of Award	26 Oct 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Celeste (Supervisor)