Digitalizing a Traditional Market: How Nossa Farmácia Achieved 68% Online Growth with VTEX [VIDEO]

In the highly conservative Portuguese pharmaceutical sector, the traditional business model relied heavily on physical proximity. Pharmacies were historically limited to serving the immediate neighborhoods or blocks around them. Grupo Nossa Farmácia, the largest pharmacy group in Portugal, recognized that to secure future growth and improve healthcare access, they needed to break down these geographic boundaries and embrace digital transformation.

By partnering with VTEX, Nossa Farmácia successfully bridged the gap between physical stores and digital commerce. They implemented a robust omnichannel strategy that not only drove massive online sales growth but also incentivized the expansion of their physical pharmacy network, proving that digital innovation can revitalize traditional brick-and-mortar operations.

For decades, the Portuguese pharmacy sector operated on a localized, conservative model. A pharmacy's customer base was largely defined by its physical location. As digital commerce began to reshape consumer expectations across other retail sectors, pharmacies faced a significant hurdle: how to transition a traditional, highly regulated, and conservative industry into the digital age.

• Geographic Limitations: Physical pharmacies were restricted to their immediate surroundings, limiting their market reach and growth potential.
• Customer Readiness: The sector is inherently conservative, and there was a prevailing concern that not all customers were ready to make the transition to purchasing health and wellness products online.
• Operational Complexity: Integrating hundreds of independent pharmacies into a unified digital platform without imposing excessive inventory requirements was a massive logistical challenge.

One of the biggest challenges we felt as a group was bringing pharmacies into the digital age. We're talking about a very conservative sector. Pharmacies needed to expand their market reach, instead of being limited to their neighborhood or block.

— Tiago Ferreira, Information Technology Director, Grupo Nossa Farmácia

To overcome these challenges, Nossa Farmácia developed a strategy centered around an omnichannel experience. The goal was clear: increase the number of customers buying online while simultaneously driving foot traffic and value to the physical pharmacies.

The group needed a technology partner capable of handling complex integrations, scalable architecture, and international standards. They selected VTEX for its API-first approach and proven track record in complex commerce projects.

VTEX already had a strong presence across multiple continents, which gave us confidence in scalability and international expansion.

— Tiago Ferreira, Information Technology Director, Grupo Nossa Farmácia

The implementation focused on creating a seamless connection between the digital storefront and the physical pharmacy network. The solution relied heavily on VTEX's Order Management System (OMS) and omnichannel capabilities.

Seamless Order Management

A critical component of the solution was the implementation of a sophisticated Order Management System. This allowed Nossa Farmácia to efficiently orchestrate orders across multiple channels and fulfillment locations.

Ship-from-Store and Click-and-Collect

To solve the inventory challenge, the platform was designed so that individual pharmacies did not need to hold dedicated stock to sell online. The system intelligently routed orders, enabling ship-from-store capabilities and a robust click-and-collect service. Customers could order online and pick up their products at any of the associated pharmacies within 24 hours.

We have Omnichannel and OMS that support everything behind the scenes. Pharmacies don't need to hold stock to sell online.

— Tiago Ferreira, Information Technology Director, Grupo Nossa Farmácia

Innovative Delivery Partnerships

Further enhancing their omnichannel offering, Nossa Farmácia partnered with CTT (Correios de Portugal) to utilize the Locky network. This allowed the pharmacy group to deliver health and wellness products directly to automated lockers across the country, providing customers with 24/7 convenience and total autonomy in receiving their orders.

The launch of the Nossa Farmácia digital platform yielded immediate and impressive results. The omnichannel approach resonated with consumers, successfully overcoming initial concerns about digital readiness in the pharmacy sector.

• Explosive Initial Growth: In the first year following launch, the digital platform achieved 68% growth, significantly exceeding the company's initial expectations.
• Sustainable Momentum: The momentum continued into the second year, with an additional 40% growth, establishing a trend of consistent, sustainable expansion.
• Physical Network Expansion: Perhaps the most remarkable outcome was the digital strategy's impact on the physical business. The network expanded from approximately 300 pharmacies to over 400. The success of the digital channels became a primary draw, with new pharmacies actively joining the group specifically to gain access to the digital platform and omnichannel capabilities.

In the first year, we grew around 68%, which exceeded expectations. The following year, we grew another 40%, and over time, growth has remained consistent and sustainable. When we started, we had around 300 pharmacies, and now we have more than 400. Some pharmacies joined the group because of digital channels.

— Tiago Ferreira, Information Technology Director, Grupo Nossa Farmácia

Nossa Farmácia's journey demonstrates that digital transformation in a traditional sector is not merely about creating a website; it is about fundamentally expanding the business model. By integrating physical and digital realms, they transformed independent, localized pharmacies into nodes of a nationwide health and wellness network.

Nossa Farmácia is a clear example, a very traditional Portuguese group that successfully combined physical and digital into a scalable, practical, and efficient solution. It has become a market reference, showing that transformation is not just about change, but about expanding the business model.

— Thiago Borba, Head of Marketing & Partnership, VTEX EMEA & APAC

Through strategic vision, the adoption of VTEX's scalable commerce platform, and a commitment to omnichannel excellence, Grupo Nossa Farmácia has secured its position as the market leader in Portugal, ready to meet the evolving digital needs of its customers while empowering its network of physical pharmacies.