Buying power for pharmacies
Group buying power for the front of shop, where an independent pharmacy sets its own margin, with one account and no forced ranges.
Compete on price, keep your independence.
On PBS scripts the dispensary is regulated and its remuneration is set for you. The front of shop is not. Personal care appliances, health and wellbeing devices, phone accessories, homewares and gifting are where an independent pharmacy chooses its range, sets its price and competes with the discount chains on something other than the script.
IBG gives pharmacies access to more than 1000 approved brands across those front-of-shop categories on group-negotiated terms, with central billing across most suppliers. IBG does not supply medicines or scheduled products; it sits alongside your pharmaceutical wholesaler and covers the retail categories they do not.
What independent pharmacies and chemists are up against
The pressures this category puts on a store buying and operating on its own.
The dispensary pays the rent, the front of shop is where the margin lives
PBS dispensing remuneration is set under the Community Pharmacy Agreement, not by you. The retail floor is the part of the business where an independent pharmacy sets its own prices and can grow margin, and it has to be bought and ranged like a retailer, not an afterthought.
Discount chains have set the price on everything
Customers see hair care appliances, electric toothbrushes, thermometers and monitors advertised at chain prices every week. Matching them on the same brands is hard when a single pharmacy buys direct at list.
Non-medicine categories mean a dozen more accounts
Every small appliance, accessory or gift brand added to the floor means another supplier account, another set of terms and another statement, on top of the wholesaler and the dispensary systems the pharmacy already runs.
The pharmacist is not a category buyer
Owners are clinicians first. Deciding which personal care and wellbeing lines deserve the space, and at what price, is a retail skill that most pharmacies have to build on top of the day job.
How IBG works for pharmacies and chemists
The same pressures, answered through group buying power and hands-on support.
Group pricing on personal care and wellbeing brands
Buy hair and grooming appliances, oral care, health monitoring devices and small appliances on group terms built on the network's combined volume, with supplier rebates where the program offers them, so the front of shop competes on the brands customers ask for.
Retail categories through one account
Central billing across most suppliers means the non-medicine range comes through a single IBG trade account, one statement and one payment, ordered through the member B2B portal, instead of a new account for every brand on the floor.
Range help from retail people
The category team helps you decide which personal care, wellbeing, accessory and gift lines earn their space, and the marketing team helps you promote them in store and online. You always choose what you stock.
Alongside your wholesaler, not instead of it
IBG does not supply medicines, scheduled products or dispensary lines and makes no claim to. Membership adds group buying power on the retail categories your pharmaceutical wholesaler does not cover.
How membership works
Four steps, and no obligation to change how you run your store.
Apply for membership
We take the time to understand your store, your categories and your local market, and confirm IBG is the right fit before anything else.
Get approved
Once approved, you unlock group-negotiated pricing, supplier rebates where available, the member B2B portal and the full IBG support team.
Order through the B2B portal
Buy across the network through a single account, with central billing across most suppliers, so you spend less time on admin and more on the floor.
Ongoing support
The IBG team helps you put group pricing, marketing, IT and category support to work for pharmacies and chemists over time. There are no mandates and no forced ranges.
Brands pharmacies and chemists can buy on group terms
A selection of names you can access on group terms. Members always choose what they stock.
Support built for pharmacies and chemists
Membership is more than buying power. The IBG team helps you run and grow the business.
Questions from pharmacies and chemists
Straight answers to what independents ask before they join.
No. IBG covers front-of-shop retail categories only: personal care appliances, health and wellbeing devices, mobile accessories, homewares and gifting. Your pharmaceutical wholesaler and dispensary arrangements are unaffected.
Hair and grooming appliances, oral care, health monitoring and wellbeing devices, small kitchen and home appliances, phone accessories and chargers, cleaning and homewares, and giftable lines, across more than 1000 approved brands.
Group terms are negotiated on the combined volume of the network rather than a single store, with supplier rebates where the program offers them. That puts an independent pharmacy in a stronger position on recognised brands than buying direct at list.
No. There are no forced ranges, no mandatory brands and no rebrand. You choose the lines that suit your customers and your floor space, and keep your pharmacy's own name and identity.
Related retailers
IBG supports independents across categories and store formats. See how it works for stores like yours.
For independent supermarkets
Group buying power on the non-food aisles, where an independent supermarket can differentiate from the majors and hold margin, alongside your existing grocery supply.
For newsagents
Group buying power on the general merchandise that now carries the newsagency, so independents can grow the categories that pay while keeping their own name over the door.
For homewares retailers
Group pricing across kitchen, dining, home living and seasonal ranges, for independent homeware and gift stores.
Make the front of shop a profit centre, with group buying behind it.
Apply for membership and the IBG team will walk you through pricing, suppliers and support for pharmacies and chemists. No obligation, no forced ranges.