Pharmacity & RELEX Solutions team up to improve the customer experience

Pharmacity, the leading retail pharmacy chain in Vietnam, announced on February 11 that it has formed a strategic partnership with RELEX Solutions, a leading provider of cutting-edge retail optimization software.

It will invest $4 million in RELEX’s forecasting and replenishment software, which will enable it to anticipate product demand and optimize inventory to give customers the essential products they need in its stores and on online channels nationwide.

Empowering customers

“We are thrilled to partner with RELEX Solutions,” said Mr. Chris Blank, Founder and CEO of Pharmacity. “This investment will help us provide the very best service to our customers by delivering the right products, whether online or offline, at the right time.”

Founded in 2011, Pharmacity is the first modern retail pharmacy chain in Vietnam, with over 800 stores nationwide, more than 5,000 employees, three centralized distribution centers, and a fully integrated logistics network. Its customers have an unrivalled and diverse range of products to choose from, with close to 8,000 items, including medicine, vitamins and supplements, and fast-moving consumers goods (FMCG). Pharmacity carries well-known third-party brands, as well as its own brands, all at a guaranteed lowest price.

Building the future of retail

By 2025, Pharmacity wants to provide the best pharmacy services in the most convenient way possible, offering better access to safe and trustworthy medicine and other essential pharmacy products, to as many Vietnamese communities as it can. To do this, it is targeting building 5,000 stores nationwide, with the goal of 50 per cent of people having a store within ten minutes of home.

The RELEX Living Retail Platform will harness artificial intelligence to automate and optimize product allocation in Pharmacity’s distribution centers and stores. The platform will enable Pharmacity to predict supply and demand following assortment changes, i.e., new product introductions, product ramp-ups and ramp-downs, and other factors that affect product demand and supply, such as peak seasons and promotional campaigns.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Pharmacity, which has been leading the transformation of the retail pharmacy industry in Vietnam,” said Mr. Mikko Kärkkäinen, CEO and Co-founder of RELEX Solutions. “Our role is to support Pharmacity as a retailer of essential services for the Vietnamese people, to ensure that the company can supply critical products and services to its customers.”

Preparing for the future

Pharmacity has played a key role during the Covid-19 pandemic, assisting local communities and providing frontline services to support the immediate healthcare needs of its customers.

The investment in RELEX’s platform will ensure that it can anticipate product needs in any prevailing market situation. The RELEX platform will go live across Pharmacity’s operations in April.

“Our customers’ needs are our utmost priority, and serving our local communities will continue to be an essential responsibility for all of us at Pharmacity,” Mr. Blank said.

About Pharmacity

Since 2011, Pharmacity has been the pioneer in Vietnam’s retail pharmacy industry, establishing the first and largest modern pharmacy chain and brand in the country. Pharmacity provides our customers in Vietnam an unrivalled convenient GPP certified pharmacy network with over 800 stores nationwide and access to over 3,500 highly trustworthy pharmacists serving the leading medicine and health & wellness product offer at the most competitive price.