Critical Success Factors for Online-Shops of Drugstores

The digitalization of the every-day life also affects buying habits of customers. Changes that take place regarding these habits result in an increasing number of e-commerce retailers. Online-shops in the business-to-consumer field are especially successful with apparel and electronic products. But not every industry that goes online initially starts out as being appealing for customers. This article deals with an e-commerce field of still low frequency, online-shops of drugstores. Their success depends on two factors: the user-friendliness of the information system and the consistency of the marketing strategy. Regarding the first -user-friendliness- the focus is on the quality of the system, which includes a clear structure of and easy navigation through the online-shop. To further ensure the quality of information they need to be up to date, relevant and comprehensible. Last but not least the service quality of the information system needs to be considered by offering hotlines or FAQ-sections. Regarding the second part – consistency of the marketing strategy- it is important to initially understand consumers’ behaviour throughout all buying phases and integrate these insight in a multi-channel strategy. This should combine the advantages of buying in a retail store (products can be touched) and buying online (convenience). A comparing analysis of Schlecker’s and Rossmann’s online-shop including the success factors above shows why drugstores are successful with e-commerce – and why not.