Online pharmacy Apohem has built a strong foundation for growth

Apohem is one of the latest newcomers in the Swedish online pharmacy market. In just three years, it has established its position as a strongly growing online pharmacy. During the first half of 2020, Apohem grew by over 300 per cent compared with the corresponding period in 2019.

Apohem online pharmacy was launched in 2017. Axel Johnsongruppen, an owner of companies in the trade and service industries, was looking for a new business to invest in and chose the fast-growing Swedish online pharmacy sector. Along with Axel Johnsongruppen, the major wholesale and retail trade player Axfood became one of the owners of Apohem.

‘From the very beginning, Apohem has aimed to grow fast by means of a broad product range, quick delivery and carefully considered partnerships,’ explains Michaela Skog, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer and Coordinator.

Hans Rofors, Chief Technological Officer at Apohem, points to Axfood’s own online grocery store, mat.se, as an example of growth-enabling partnerships.

‘Our customers can order their groceries and pharmacy products at the same time and have them all delivered to their door,’ Rofors explains.

Receptum became Apohem’s partner and pharmacy system supplier in 2018, at the time when Apohem was leaving the startup phase to enter full-scale pharmacy operations, including prescription medicines.

‘We studied different system suppliers, and Receptum convinced us with their deep understanding of e-commerce systems and their expertise in the pharmacy industry,’ Michaela Skog says.

According to Skog, they were also convinced right from the beginning by Receptum’s ability to keep tight schedules – something that takes effort and commitment.

‘When Hans and I started at Apohem, Receptum was already the company’s partner. We have a habit of evaluating our existing partners and we can say that our cooperation with Receptum has only become better. We have excellent dialogue with our contact person, Product Manager Juha Sevanto,’ says Nikolaj Farrell, Application Manager at Apohem.

Apohem is in the process of moving its warehouse to the Stockholm area. To ensure the best possible efficiency, the entire inventory management system will be revamped as well as the interaction between the online store and logistics.

‘A change of this extent requires development work, and Receptum has been really open to new ideas and moved them forward,’ Nikolaj Farrell praises.

Hans Rofors says that Receptum not only is open to new development ideas but they also make proposals of their own, and this is what he really appreciates.

‘When you have active dialogue with your partner, you can achieve genuinely good results, and that is one of the best characteristics of a good partner,’ Rofors says with satisfaction.

Apohem has purchased a full-service package from Receptum, including the servers, workstations, MAXX pharmacy system, its integration with the online store, inventory control of prescription medicines and customer support in Swedish.

According to Rofors, the MAXX system is running reliably and so they have not needed support. Skog says that the pharmacists have been very satisfied with the good customer support that is always available when needed.

‘Juha Sevanto at Receptum is very important for us, as he can help with so many things. His thorough knowledge of pharmaceutical processes and the system is very valuable for us’, Skog says.

The IT professionals Farrel and Rofors add that they have learned the pharmacy business by doing, and the support from an experienced product manager has been very important.

‘Juha has always been able to clearly explain why a certain process is necessary for the system to meet the authorities’ requirements for pharmacy operations,’ Farrell says.

The coronavirus pandemic that broke out in spring 2020 quickly increased Apohem’s sales by 400 per cent. Apohem needed more pharmacists and workstations at once.

‘Receptum delivered everything really quickly, and we were able to keep our customer promise of quick delivery during that hectic period,’ Rofors praises.

Apohem promises delivery of prescription medicines within one to three days anywhere in Sweden.

Online pharmacy sales have remained high since the onset of the pandemic. Therefore, the development of inventory management and logistics in the summer was correctly timed and really responded to a need.

Receptum kept the schedule also on this project. According to Rofors, the project is running excellently as planned. In the autumn, Apohem will reach a new level in its business.

Recently, Apohem had a customer survey carried out. As a result, it is now focusing on holistic well-being and health care.

‘We inspire our customers to adopt a healthy lifestyle by cooperating with different experts and social media influencers. The products alone do not guarantee well-being. You need a holistic vision and action,’ Skog emphasises.

In addition, the team at Apohem continuously creates diverse content to support well-being. This content provides customers with information about matters such as how to improve one’s quality of sleep or how to avoid and treat running injuries.

Keep your eyes peeled – there’s something big going on, the three promise.