OTC Vending Machines? Meet Zur Rose’s Latest Experiment In Automated Pharmacy
Executive Summary
As well as trying to become the Amazon of European healthcare, Swiss supply chain distruptor Zur Rose continues to experiment with automated pharmacy models with an OTC vending machine in Kirchberg.
European supply chain disruptor Zur Rose Group AG has launched in Switzerland its latest experiment in automated pharmacy: a vending machine that dispenses natural medicines, dietary supplements and personal care products.
A collaboration with vending machine specialist Selecta TMP AG, ApoBox dispenses to consumers in Kirchberg – a small village in the Swiss canton of Bern – natural medicines such as Bach flower remedies, vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements and personal care products, including intimate hygiene, oral hygiene and dental care products.
Currently in a pilot test stage, Zur Rose explained that ApoBox machines would also be available at railway stations in Brig, Sursee, Zollikofen, Worblaufen, Burgdorf, Brugg, Lenzburg, Wetzikon and Dietikon until the end of May.
If the pilot is a success, Zur Rose revealed that it planned to roll-out additional machines at other “traffic-intensive locations” in Switzerland in the future.
Explaining the strategy behind Apobox, the firm said that consumers could now access consumer healthcare products comfortably and quickly “on the move” and “around the clock,” without needing to visit a pharmacy or drugstore.
Through the machines, Zur Rose added that consumers also benefited from the same “attractive” prices found in its Swiss online, “flagship” bricks-and-mortar and “shop-in-shop” stores. (Also see "Zur Rose’s European playpen" - HBW Insight, 19 Oct, 2018.)
Zur Rose Committed To Experimentation
Apobox is only the latest episode in Zur Rose’s long-term strategy of experimenting with digital models to disrupt what it considers to be a monopoly of bricks-and-mortar pharmacy in European healthcare retail.
Although shut down last month by German courts, Zur Rose’s “video consultation with drug delivery” outlet in the rural town of Hüffenhardt proposed an innovative response to the problem of pharmacies shutting down in rural areas. (Also see "Zur Rose’s Experiment In Automated Pharmacy Shut Down For A Second Time" - HBW Insight, 10 Apr, 2019.)
While there were "no plans" for another Hüffenhardt-style outlet as long as the legal case against dragged on, the firm would continue to experiment with automated pharmacy models, Zur Rose’s chief executive officer, Walter Oberhänsli, told HBW Insight at the time.
Meanwhile, Zur Rose is also edging forward with its mission to become the Amazon of European healthcare by creating what it calls an online healthcare "ecosystem."
Speaking at the 2018 NOAH Conference, Zur Rose board member Olaf Heinrich explained how the firm wanted to also use its recently acquired Promofarma “platform” technology to build e-health services into its existing e-commerce offering, potentially revolutionising European pharmacy and the way that consumers accessed healthcare services. (Also see "Bricks-And-Mortar Pharmacy In The Crosshairs As Zur Rose Aims To Become The Amazon Of European Healthcare " - HBW Insight, 10 Dec, 2018.)
For example, by using data gathered from purchases of OTC and BPC products on the platform, Heinrich explained that Zur Rose would be able to offer consumers a “medication management system” in the future.
Zur Rose’s Fairytale Of Disruption
On its corporate website, the company has now added a section,‘Creating the ecosystem of the future,’ that presents this vision in the style of a graphic novel (see collage below).
“Ecosystems are nothing new,” Zur Rose points out. “Doctors, hospitals, pharmacists, insurers and local authorities have always worked in a sector based on partnership.”
“However, today's ecosystems are permeated and data-driven by digitalization, a fundamental departure from previous practice,” it continues. “These processes are faster than ever and visible to all involved.”
While its aim was to create a “comprehensive, integrated health platform,” the firm stressed that its primary motivation was to provide an “improved and more cost-effective, customer-centred healthcare system,” not just secure “sheer size and market power.”
“The well-being of the patient is the focal point of the ecosystem,” Zur Rose insisted.