Читать книгу Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team - Группа авторов - Страница 89

If your clients were not used to making online purchases before the pandemic, that has likely changed, and they have now established a new comfort level for dealing with e‐commerce and home delivery. Expect that this will continue, and many clients will also be considering and researching making online purchases for their pet supplies, foods, and medications.

This is the time to consolidate and promote online retail, as this is not only convenient for your clients but increases the safety of your staff as well (see 9.10 Dispensing and Prescribing). Veterinary hospitals might consider aligning with an online veterinary pharmacy and directing clients toward such purchases. It is important that veterinary practices price their products competitively, so clients can make a seamless transition to online purchasing without having to price shop for better deals elsewhere. It is possible for veterinary hospitals to do this profitably, because with online pharmacies and retailers there are no inventory costs for the practice. While it might seem that veterinary hospitals could stock and dispense products and keep a larger share of the revenue, it can actually be more satisfying to earn a profit margin without having to deal with all the costs of maintaining inventory.

In some countries, veterinary medicine still involves actual cash exchange, but following a pandemic expect that most customers will prefer cashless transactions, and even more likely contactless transactions, where there is not even the handling of credit or debit cards, or even receipts. It is important to consider payment options carefully, and this type of retail experience is likely to continue long into the future.