35,000 small pharmacies seek lifebuoys

The retail pharmaceutical market in Vietnam is currently dominated by small-scale establishments, with over 60,000 "mom-and-pop" pharmacies.

Recently, the presence of large corporations has increased the level of competition.

According to SSI Research, the boom in big pharmacy chains like Long Chau, An Khang, and Pharmacity has made the market more vibrant and fiercely competitive.

In this context, small pharmacies face difficulties with marketing and capital resources.

Buymed's factory in Bac Ninh. Photo courtesy of Buymed

Nguyen Huu Minh Hoang, CEO of Buymed, which owns and operates Thuocsi.vn, a major e-commerce platform for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies in Vietnam, stated that small pharmacies face many challenges in competing with financially strong corporations.

Therefore, in order to survive and develop, they need to ensure low prices and high-quality products.

Buymed is connecting with 35,000 pharmacies nationwide and sees the necessity of providing financial solutions to support them.

Accordingly, from June 14, Buymed will "shake hands" with An Bình Bank to develop a supply chain financing solution for the small-scale pharmaceutical industry.

Pharmacy chains, suppliers, warehousing units, and Buymed's product delivery system will be provided with credit by the bank under preferential conditions based on large amounts of data possessed by the platform.

Pharmacies trading through thuocsi.vn that are in need of capital in order to rotate goods or expand chains from 5–10 branches will be granted loans by ABBank, instead of having to sell assets or borrow externally.

Pham Duy Hieu, Acting General Director of ABBANK (seated, L), along with Nguyen Huu Minh Hoang (seated, R), Co-founder and CEO of Buymed, at the signing ceremony on June 14, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Thi Ha

Pham Duy Hieu, acting CEO of ABBank, believes this solution will not only assist pharmacy chains in solving investment capital issues and expanding their businesses, it will also help the bank gain many new customers.

"The bank's credit operations struggled at the beginning of the year, but have rebounded in the last two months," Hieu said.

According to BMI Market Research, retail pharmaceutical market sales across Vietnam are expected to increase from US$7.7 billion in 2021 to US$16.1 billion by 2026.

Without transformational steps and relying on larger "giants" for help, small pharmacies will find it hard to withstand the expansion of large enterprises in the retail pharmaceutical sector.

Buymed's GSP-compliant pharmaceutical storage facility in Binh Duong. Photo courtesy of Buymed

Buymed, established in 2018, owns the e-commerce platform thuocsi.vn, which specializes in pharmaceuticals and medical supplies.

Currently, Buymed collaborates with over 1,000 partners, including leading domestic and international pharmaceutical corporations and companies, to ensure the supply of products with consistent quality, clear origins.

The company distributes pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to 35,000 pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals nationwide.

Not only focusing on the Vietnamese market, Buymed also aims to become a leading technology platform throughout the larger Southeast Asian healthcare sector.

The company has successfully expanded into the Cambodian and Thai markets, and Buymed plans to continue its expansion into other reginal countries in the future.