30 July, 2025
Consumer spending data for the June quarter of 2025 showed continued growth in the Pharmacy sector to close out the financial year. Average basket sizes increased by 11%, driving a 12.4% increase in spend per person across Australia.
Fonto recently launched its monthly Moments in Pharmacy data series, focusing on customer experience and satisfaction across the category. After making a verified purchase at a recognised pharmacy, consumers are surveyed within 3-5 days to learn more about what they purchased, why and about their customer experience.
Key early findings from the data have helped highlight clear brand differentiators in consumer perception of leading Pharmacy brands and increased understanding of why items that may have otherwise been bought from supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths were actually bought from pharmacies.
When asked about specific purchases that may have otherwise been sourced from a supermarket, consumers nominated better prices (31%), increased convenience (29%), and lack of product availability at the supermarket (25%) as the top 3 reasons for going to the pharmacy instead. Examples of items included on this list included but was not limited to over the counter (OTC) medicines, cosmetics, toilet paper, personal care products and vitamins.
"While the supermarkets are very publicly reducing their product ranges and being investigated for the pricing behaviours, consumers are telling us that these are the main reasons for taking some elements of their grocery shop into pharmacies across Australia.” said Ben Dixon, CEO of Fonto.
“It's a great time to be a pharmacy retailer in Australia, and the growth is not just being driven by Sigma Health's recent merger, but by consumer demand.”
Shoppers were also asked why they chose to shop with specific brands. Responses provided clear differentiation in consumer perception of the top 3 brands, with Chemist Warehouse being chosen primarily for better prices, Priceline for product range, and Terry White Chemmart for ease of sourcing or ordering what they needed.
For those that chose to make medical appointments with their pharmacist instead of their General Practitioner, consumers cited convenience (37%), trust (21%), reduced wait times (21%) and the fact that appointments were free (21%).
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Almost 90,000 Australians share their daily financial transaction data privately and securely via Fonto's consumer apps Surveyz and Humaniti, allowing us to accurately understand buyer behaviour over time.
Fonto also surveys individuals shortly after purchases at pharmacies to better understand the 'why' behind their consumer behaviour, and the comparative customer experience between pharmacy retailers.
