Sigma pushes for growth

SIGMA Healthcare ceo Mark Hooper is expecting a “big reaction” to an open letter issued to Australian pharmacists urging them to consider being part of the company’s retail offering.

The letter, which features as the cover page of today’s issue of Pharmacy Daily, highlights Sigma brands including Amcal, Guardian, PharmaSave, DDS and Chemist King, with the company highlighting strong like-for-like sales growth across the network over the last six months - in contrast to a flat performance across the overall industry during the same period.

“There is real momentum at Sigma... we have a strong core of pharmacy brands that provide flexible solutions for our pharmacy customers,” said Sigma executive general manager, Retail Pharmacy, Jeff Sells.

“We are confident that as more pharmacists see the benefit of being part of the Sigma group that we will continue to expand our retail footprint, which already stands as Australia’s largest pharmacy network,” he said.

The strategy sees an even stronger focus on Sigma’s own retail brands, following confirmation that the company’s longstanding supply agreement with the My Chemist/Chemist Warehouse group will cease on 30 Jun 2019 (PD 06 Sep). When he reported the Sigma Healthcare annual result last month, Hooper said while there would be an impact from the end of the contract, “we are confident that we have the pipeline to grow organically across retail pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, 3PL [third party logistics] and through services such as MPS”.

Hooper’s letter details the establishment of a dedicated hotline for interested pharmacists to discuss Sigma’s offerings oneon-one with the company’s Senior Leadership Team.

“At the core of Sigma Healthcare’s business is the belief that healthy pharmacy partnerships are vital for healthy communities... it’s our mission to achieve this by helping pharmacists to run better businesses, and by providing connected solutions to the broader healthcare community,” he said.

Part of the Sigma offering is the LEAPP Dispensary Excellence Program, which has seen some participating Amcal and Guardian pharmacies record revenue growth of up to 10%.

The Sigma hotline is 0413

804 898 and the campaign also includes a dedicated email contact on somethingbetter@sigmahealthcare.com.au.