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Kate Knynnenburg has been a co-owner/manager at The Gap Day & Night Pharmacy since 1995. She and her husband and business partner Michael recently decided to de-brand to become an independent community pharmacy. A website was one of her first priorities.
“Independence, for us, meant a change in systems and processes,” Knynenburg recently told the Pharmacy Business and Career Network Podcast. “[Things that] were previously provided [as part of a banner group] suddenly had to be done internally by ourselves. We all know that change is difficult, and we were lucky to have very supportive staff on hand and good customer relations to build on… we really needed to build on those foundations, and increasing our digital presence was paramount.”
Becoming independent meant The Gap Day & Night Pharmacy needed to establish a digital presence for itself, as opposed to relying on a website maintained by a banner group. But for Knynenburg, the alternative — simply not having a digital presence — wasn’t an option.
01 Sept 2019
How The Gap Day & Night Pharmacy is growing its digital presence
“In the old days, you would pay for the best possible ad in the Yellow and White Pages and other print media,” she says.
“That seems like a long time ago now… we’re in a very different era. People trying to find your business are not looking at paper. They’re on the internet, they’re on their devices, and so you have to have a digital presence. And when they want to find you, they don’t just want a phone number. They want to know where you are, when you are open, what services you have, and what you can do for them.
“Customers are also time-poor, so I think having a digital presence gives them every opportunity to shop locally if they can find what they’re after.”
‘Digital Enablement’ is one of nine growth pathways laid out by the Pharmacy Guild’s Community Pharmacy 2025 (CP2025) document, intended to help community pharmacies adapt their future business strategies to the needs of the modern customer.
“I’m actually very excited about the CP2025 framework,” Knynenburg says.
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“We’ve been talking about change in the industry for a long time, and I think this document really cements some ideas and plan outlines and provides a map to help us decide where we are going to choose to expand our business, and how we can retain our relevance.”
With no background in building websites, Knynenburg and her husband weren’t sure how to start establishing an online presence for their independent pharmacy — until they came across Guild Digital.
“We came into contact with Guild Digital at the Pharmacy Connect conference last year,” Knynenburg says.
“Aaron [D’Souza, general manager of Guild Digital] came to meet us and we started the process. The team there guided us in this new area and they were very patient with us. In the end, we have a website we’re really proud of. I think that without them, we would still be working on it, to be honest.”
“Coming to the realisation that we can’t do everything ourselves is a big step, and possibly something we as pharmacists haven’t been so quick to accept,” she says.
Ultimately, Knynenburg has discovered that being willing to ask for help has been key to establishing her pharmacy’s independence.
“To have an organisation who knows the pharmacy industry so well providing us with a framework for setting up a digital presence has been invaluable. Guild Digital have given us guidance, with the scope to put our own personalities into the product. It’s going to be a constant work in progress, but we’ve had the best start, and I highly recommend it.”
Watch Kate's Video!
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