Operational Reports
Retail Services continued
Life branded pharmacies are part of a symbol group , led by pharmacist members through a board of management , with Uniphar supplying members with central management resources , marketing , operations and central purchasing . Members in return placing their wholesale business with Uniphar . There were 57 members in December 2016 , with 8 recruited during the year .
Uniphar provides three dedicated regional territory managers who work exclusively with Life members to help them to develop their businesses . During 2016 , we improved the value offering by tendering the generic portfolio to the market and by the addition of new OTC and Front of Shop products . There were a number of innovations and improvements in the services available to members , including access to a suite of weekly Business Intelligence reports issued to each store , assisting the pharmacy to drive Rx , OTC and Front of Counter sales and improve pharmacy margins through group deals and better buying .
Life has a national marketing fund to which both members and Uniphar contribute . During 2016 , there were two national advertising campaigns , incorporating both TV and radio media . This included a Christmas campaign in conjunction with a national radio station where Life pharmacies enabled the winning customer to ‘ Bring someone home for Christmas ’ and a successful fundraising partnership with the Irish Heart Foundation . One of the Life member stores , Brennan ’ s Life Pharmacy , Donabate , was awarded Best Pharmacy Team at the IPU Awards in May .
In 2017 , we have already completed a customer service pilot training programme and completed a range of regional training events . This was followed by the launch of a new mystery shopper programme in all stores . We will complete a loyalty roll out in Quarter 2 of this year , together with a scoping exercise around an eCommerce click and collect model .
Life symbol group is led by its pharmacy members and supported by the strength of Uniphar .
18 | Annual Report 2016